Meta ethics tries to make sense of the terms and concepts used in ethical theories such as Utilitarianism and Natural Law. Some people believe that ethical language is extremely meaningful as they argue it is essential to be able to define terms such as “good” and “bad” before we can even begin to discuss ethical theories. However others disagree with this and argue that moral statements are subjective so are meaningless, as they cannot be described as either true or false. Those who hold cognitive theories about ethical language would argue that ethical statements are not meaningless as they are about facts, and can therefore be proved true or false. Ethical Naturalism is a cognitive theory of meta ethics which holds the belief that
Both Antigone and Emery fought against unjust laws like improper burial and illegalization of marijuana but were punished for their actions. Antigone is a tragedy written by Sophocles in 442 B.C that illustrates how unjust laws are broken to have true justice in the society. In the play, Antigone buries her brother Polyneices defying King Creon’s law of leaving him unburied to rot and be eaten by animals, because Polyneices fought against the city of Thebes in order to conquer it. King Creon believed his law is justified in order to keep peace and defend Thebes against traitors. Creon is a king who is dedicated to his city more than his family thus as the play progresses Creon ignores his family relations to serve the laws of his city.
Meta-Ethics is a branch of ethics which is concerned with the language that is used in ethical arguments. Many would say that if we do not know what we are talking about, then there is not point to ethical debate. This differs from normative which deicides whether or not something is bad or good and gives us a guide for moral behaviour. Meta-ethics is about normative ethics and tried to make sense of the terms and concepts used. The terms good and bad are used a lot in day to day sentences - but what do they really mean?
Examine how both deontological and teleological ethical systems can be used to help people make moral decisions. Deontological and teleological ethical systems attempt to provide those who follow them with contrasting moral guides, recommending wrong and right concepts of behaviour. Deontological ethics derives from the Greek word, "Deon" which translates to "duty", for all deontologists, morality is a matter of duty. This ethical theory judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to a rule, so essentially, deontology is concerned with the intent behind an action as well as the nature of the action itself. Therefore, deontologists follow the belief that certain actions are inherently good if they follow the stated rules even if the action has bad consequences, it can still be defined as moral.
Creon sentences Antigone to death. An example of a tragic flaw for Creon would be when he said, “Whatever you say, you will not change my will” (759). This shows tragic flaw because Creon is stubborn with Teiresias and he doesn’t want to free Antigone. Antigone is determined to respect the God-given laws regarding the dead. Antigone risks losing her life, and Creon risks losing Cadmus, which was the founder of Thebes.
The only difference between the era of Socrates and today’s society is the acceptance of these crimes differed. When Euthyphros father killed his servant, his reason simply followed the “eye for eye” rule; he deserved death for bringing upon death to another. To him, throwing his servant into a ditch was plausible because since he already murdered someone it would be of no great harm. To live a holy life is almost impossible, unless you’re a God. As a human trying to be as pious as possible, you must have a devotion to god and family.
Livy’s Moral Judgments: Loyalty and Betrayal In the preface, Livy states that his aim is not to challenge the facts of history, but to examine the lives of early Romans. In particular, he desires to investigate the morals of Rome’s early citizens. Through each story he tells, Livy passes judgments on his characters and uses them as examples of how Roman citizens should and should not act. He considers many different traits, but the one he holds above all others is loyalty to Rome. Perhaps because Livy lived in a time where men had forsaken loyalty to their country for personal gain, he places extra emphasis on loyalty.
Compare Plato’s and Hume’s views of reason, focusing on their arguments for the specific features they imagine reason to have. Whose view do you find more compelling, and on what grounds? A long-standing issue in subject of moral philosophy has been the issue of how and why we, as humans, go about our decision-making process during moral dilemmas. Is the basis of determining our moral distinctions to be found in our reasoning and logic or is it found in our passions and emotions and experiences? This question has been debated over since the beginnings of philosophical thought and continues to persist to this day.
In this section, Antigone encourages Ismene to help bury their brother, Polynices. He died a terrible death and Antigone believes he deserves a proper burial no matter what everyone else says about the way he died fighting against the city. Creon has specifically asked that no person mourn or touch his corpse and to “leave him unburied for the dogs to tear.” Ismene agrees to do one thing for Antigone in her master plan: to not tell anyone what she is going to do. Creon becomes king because he inherits the throne. Eteocles, Ismene and Antigone’s good brother, died fighting for the city is given a proper burial.
In a dramatic dialogue with his father, Haemon defends the moral basis of Antigone's actions while warning his father that the people of Thebes sympathize with her determination to bury Polyneices. He and his father part in anger, as he simply asks his father to do what's right for Thebes, and his father stubbornly follows the path of least resistance. “Not here, no;she will not she will not die here, king. And you will never see my face again. Go on raving as long as you've a friend to endure you.” (3,132-134).