He seemed almost ambivalent to the continuation of his life but instead was concerned with the wisdom of his actions during his life. “You are wrong, sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all should take into account the risk of life or death; he should look to this only in his actions, whether what he does is right or wrong (Apology 28b).” Socrates believes that it is a disgrace to back down in the face of danger when he has done the right thing. This is especially true for Socrates because of the charges against him. He refutes all of them and shows that he does believe in the state Gods, that he does not charge a fee for teaching, and that if he pollutes the minds of young people it is of there own free will. His strongest argument is that if he did do wrong he did so unknowingly and therefore should not be punished.
In Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, John Galt believes that selfishness is both moral and practical because having “concern with one's own interests” is concurrent with both the desire to live and the refusal to support “looters”. Galt believes that the survival of man is possible only by the use of the mind, this being demonstrated through his strict moral code. According to Galt, men must live by values and earn their living through production, rather than destruction and must never give or take the undeserved. Expectation for something in return for nothing is considered barbaric, leaving mutual trade as the only civilized method of human interaction. When selfishness is taken out of the equation and economic resources are seized from producers
Micheal Jones PHI 208 Ethics and Moral Reasoning Prof. Kathleen Andrews June 13, 2013 Giving: Is It Our Moral Obligation? “It is better to give than to receive”, many of us are familiar with this statement but few live by this golden rule. In today’s society it is everyman for himself. The weak are left to suffer with no hope of being rescued. We live in a world where we expect people to assist us in our time of need although we refuse to help those who truly need our assistance.
“Individualism” Ralph Waldo Emerson describes his philosophy of individualism, explaining how “man” should rely on himself in order to reveal his uniqueness, so he says that “trust in thyself” and do not become a conformist are part of the steps of encouraging individualism. He refers to everybody, throughout the essay, as “man” and “mankind.” Emerson’s “Self Reliance” essay begins by quoting an epilogue to Beaumont and Fletcher’s: “Man is his own star” (Emerson 259). Declaring the importance of a man being authentic honest and confident; therefore, he continues through the paper promoting individualism. He talks about how important it is to believe and rely on man's own thought rather than accept other people’s ideas as man's own ideology. Then Emerson encourages his audience to recognize their own thoughts and not to be afraid of letting them out.
At the same to time I think it right to help the less fortunate and to recognize every person as they are, a human being. While I believe that every human being should have the pursuit of happiness and fulfill their self-interests, one should also show concern for our fellow man. Ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that moral agents should do what is in their own self-interest. Ayn Rand believes that this doctrine is one that every man should follow for fear of becoming a society that lives for others and only others, like the dystopian society in her novel Anthem. While ethical egoism sounds appealing to me, I do not believe that is my only duty.
Mister singer uses it here to suggests that no-one should sacrifice more than we can spare but donate what we can that will do the most good for the greatest number of people. What this means is that one should not cause harm to themselves while helping others. It is my opinion that Mister Singer’s ideas are fully justifiable. First it is true that we must endeavor to provide aide and end suffering: Jeffery Obler wrote that “To ignore the needy is morally wrong, and failure to help is not acceptable” (Obler, 1986).it is also logical to assume that doing the right thing has an effect not only on the one helped but also on the helper: it makes one feel good about oneself and enriches your soul, giving you something about yourself to feel pride in your
This concept, however, is thwarted in Brave New World. The society has their "stability to think of. [They] don't want to change. Every change is a menace to stability," (p.224, 225). This shows that the society discourages change, which also means no future growth.
In comparison to a court decision one cannot use personal feeling towards the final decision in a case, but Huck felt otherwise. Huck is being disciplined for his beliefs and he does not want to be part of a lifestyle that does not support his ways. For example, his choice not to turn in Jim because he knows of what he did shows that Huck understands why Jim is escaping and feels for him rather than just to do the right thing according to society. Huck sees Jim as a friend, a companion whom he finds close not as a slave. With that said he truly is able to see that society's way of treating Jim is completely wrong.
Emerson illustrates that although occupations like philanthropists seems like a beneficial thing, he would still sometimes consider it to be “malice and vanity.” (Page 22) Instead of trying to show off our goodness by helping those far away from us, why don’t we just simply do what’s right in concern of ourselves? Men should use virtue as a “penance,” (Page 23) instead of as a tool to gain social recognition. Kindness is the responsibility of every man. We should do it by natural means in order to respect our creators, not to conform. A man can only truly be a man when he follows his own thoughts and personalities, when he/her breaks free from all restrictions and outside judgments.
Ayn Rand Belief in Today’s society. Ayn Rand's belief of those human relationships should exist without sacrifice. Every man is responsible for his own survival, and it is morally wrong to sacrifice yourself for someone unimportant to you, and equally immoral to expect someone else's sacrifice for your sake. Ayn Rand’s belief doesn't eliminate charity, just shouldn't bring harm to you in order to help someone. Of course, you could deleteriously affect your own welfare to help someone, but it might not be a sacrifice depending on the circumstances.