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Role of religion in crime and punishment
Morality with god
Role of religion in crime and punishment
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The debate as to the interconnected relationship between God and morality is one that has been long contested by varying philosophers, authors, and other great thinkers. In doing so, countless of these individuals have found numerous ways of depicting this relationship, through the use of differing texts, films, books, or other informative actions. Specifically so, the film Crimes and Misdemeanors, provides insight into this relation between God and morality, and whether ethical understanding and foundations play a role in society. Focusing on the social backdrops of society, director Woody Allen is able to provide insight into the issues that are plaguing daily life, and as a result brings forth the aforementioned argument arisen between God …show more content…
In Crime and Misdemeanors, the beliefs of both Plato and Nietzsche are made clear in the differing plot possibilities. Whereas the rabbi that Judah visited advocated for open communication with his wife, this ultimately had no effect on the character, as his immorality caused him to hire a hitman that would get rid of his problem. The ability to choose one way or another, as proposed to Judah, provide insight into the relationship between God and morality, in that it calls into question which actions are considered moral and immoral. Although Plato considers the possibility that God and morality can be interconnected in some form or manner, he also considers the potential that they do not relate. On the other hand, the beliefs of Nietzsche promote an outright angst and disgust towards the religious institutions, as he sees them for being the foundational reason for the loss of morality in contemporary society. Despite the fact that he denounced religious moral goodness, he showed the extent to which morality is defined by individuals in society, and the institutions which govern their
Released in 1989, Crimes and Misdemeanors outlines the lives of two men; Cliff Stern and Judah Rosenthal. Cliff Stern, a small time film-maker, struggles to succeed in both his career and marriage. While Judah Rosenthal, a wealthy ophthalmologist, faces moral dilemmas after having an affair with a young mistress. Judah's mistress expects him to leave his wife and when he doesn't she threatens to expose the secret relationship. Unsure Judah contemplates whether or not killing the mistress, to protect his comfortable lifestyle, is morally comprehensible. Ultimately, Judah decides to pay for the murder and gets away with it. Surrounding Judah's decision and Cliff's struggles, minor characters emerge within the plot embodying specific philosophical viewpoints. One of these characters is a professor and philosopher named Louis Levy who voices the importance of love. Shortly before committing suicide Levy says something rather ambiguous about love; "it is only we, with our capacity to love, that give meaning to an indifferent universe; and yet, most human beings seem to have the ability to...
In Western society and culture, religion and morality have often intertwined and they have reflected their values onto each other. Today it is sometimes impossible to make a distinction between the two, since their influence has transcended generations. In modern Western culture, religion and society preach conformity. In order to be a “good” person, one must conform to the values imposed by the church1 and state.
The necessity of religion is a topic that has been widely debated by many people for many years. The vast majority of the 7 and a half billion people on this earth practice some sort of religion but for what purpose? Whether it’s too give people hope for an afterlife or too fuel their need for contact with others people can list hundreds of different reasons why they rely on religion but is religion actually essential to our wellbeing and and life quality on this planet?
A major problem in our government right now is the influence that religion has over government laws in the states and the country. Government and religion must always be separate due to the fact that there are multiple religions in the United States and that religious influence favors one over the other and influences laws that can be placed over the people. A major issue of religion and state is same-sex marriage which due to religious rules mainly form Christianity, forbids the act and the influence Christianity has on the States is evident to why it is illegal in more than 50% of the states in America. Another issue is the dealing with Abortion though government rules that this is legal religions tell the people that this is wrong and illegal which are another example of religion attempting to influence government decisions. The religious influence in Government can be eliminated by disallowing the teachings of a religion to directly affect a religious preference or law, to differentiate between religious marriage and state recognized marriage, and to make sure that religious influence does not affect the choosing of government candidates.
In the Second Essay of On the Genealogy of Morals (titled ““Guilt,” “Bad Conscience,” and the Like”), Nietzsche formulates an interesting conception of the origin and function of guilt feelings and “bad conscience.” Nietzsche’s discussion of this topic is rather sophisticated and includes sub-arguments for the ancient equivalence of the concepts of debt and guilt and the existence of an instinctive joy in cruelty in human beings, as well as a hypothesis concerning the origin of civilization, a critique of Christianity, and a comparison of Christianity to ancient Greek religion. In this essay, I will attempt to distill these arguments to their essential points.
To begin, “On Morality'; is an essay of a woman who travels to Death Valley on an assignment arranged by The American Scholar. “I have been trying to think, because The American Scholar asked me to, in some abstract way about ‘morality,’ a word I distrust more every day….'; Her task is to generate a piece of work on morality, with which she succeeds notably. She is placed in an area where morality and stories run rampant. Several reports are about; each carried by a beer toting chitchat. More importantly, the region that she is in gains her mind; it allows her to see issues of morality as a certain mindset. The idea she provides says, as human beings, we cannot distinguish “what is ‘good’ and what is ‘evil’';. Morality has been so distorted by television and press that the definition within the human conscience is lost. This being the case, the only way to distinguish between good or bad is: all actions are sound as long as they do not hurt another person or persons. This is similar to a widely known essay called “Utilitarianism'; [Morality and the Good Life] by J.S. Mills with which he quotes “… actions are right in the proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.';
In today’s society, there is little agreement about what is moral. Even the most egregious abuses of others illicit little condemnation because of our reluctance to espouse a universal morality. Instead, we view morality as an unintelligible tangle of competing sets of rights and wrongs. In contrast, both “Viva La Vida” and “A Season In Hell” offer opposing moralities and both are willing to prescribe their morality as superior to all others. “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay suggests the traditional Judeo-Christian western morality and “A Season in Hell” by Rimbaud espouses the Nihilistic moral subjectivism of believing there is no universal right and wrong.
This persuasive essay will defend the opinion that humanity’s goodness is fleeting and fragile at best as depicted in Divergent (2011) by Veronica Roth. It is the opinion of this author that goodness is unsustainable by humanity as a whole. Four factors threatening mankind’s ability to maintain moral goodness are pride, power, and impatience. This paper will explore examples of each of these factors from Roth’s novel intertwined with other relevant media examples to defend the concept of mankind’s inability to sustain goodness. From an evaluation of humanity’s need for pride and power to a probe into impatience’s contribution in the destruction of morality this author will demonstrate the fragility of goodness among men. Let us now begin this exploration with the revelation of the importance of pride and power.
This essay will analyze two films, which are related to the matter of morality to seek and discuss the issue of what exactly morality is. The two movies discussed in the paper will be An Indecent proposal, which is filmed in 1993, and It’s a wonderful life which is filmed in 1946. Both films discuss the theme of morality, specially the need for financial stability in our society and the implication of money to our morality. Both films examine the issue of money and people’s moral compass when two are involved.
“It is science, and not religion, which has taught men that things are complex and difficult to understand”-Emile Durkheim. Understanding religion is a very difficult task, with so many views and thousands of different religions. No matter what the religion is, or where it is located they all have an importance for society. The importance religion has is establishing what is correct and what is not. Religion has been around for many years, so has the many different understanding of the purpose religion has on society. Most of all the three key factors of religion that has an impact on society are; Social support, experience, maintain social control.
Arthur, John, and Scalet, Steven, eds. Morality and Moral Controversies: Readings in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Eighth Edition, 2009.
Truth, virtue, morality and sin are subjects of much controversy and debate in Western culture and the Church—these topics become more amplified especially within the confines of our political system. As American society ventures further away from the Christian ideals and principles once implemented at the foundations of our nation, these concepts continue to blur and become less important to the collective mind of our nation. Some may argue that these principles should remain separate from government and the political arena, stating that Christian ideals such as these are “antiquated” or “out of touch” with the direction society is heading; however, one ought to argue that government should never be separate from these ideals and it was the
Justice and morality can be viewed hand in hand as justice is based off a foundation of moral beliefs involving ethics, fairness and the law. The nature of justice and morality and how they are related has been debated heavily throughout philosophical history. When analyzing Nietzsche’s work On the Genealogy of Morals, and Thrasymachus in Plato’s, Republic it is evident that they have similarities and differences when one compares their individual accounts on the nature and genesis of justice and morality. Such similarities are their views on the nature of society and humans are naturally unequal. In addition, both philosophers agree with the statement that there can be no common good amongst society and that all moral values are socially created. On the other hand, although Nietzsche and Thrasymachus have these resemblances between their accounts, they each have unique personal differences which set them apart from each other.
The actions and nature of God in these stories are meant to be an example of the values and personality favored by God. In these passages, a structure for a just society is presented, and the values and examples, which are to be referred to and followed in the creation of this "just society", are discussed. However, even within these passages, there are discrepancies between the structure of the ideal "just society" and its values, and the following of these examples by the stories presented in The Bible. One of the most noticeable of these is the difference between the presentation of the ideal "just society" and values that are supposed to be implemented by the people, and the actual justice and values presented in the stories. This is particularly pertaining to the stories of the rulers appointed by God, and the vengeful nature of God himself presented in these stories.
Religiosity and morality stood out because it is a controversial topic that is compelling to learn about. Everyday life can be affected by these two factors in a positive or negative light. People do not usually think about the morals they obtain and where their morals came from. Researching this topic and understanding the relationship between these two issues will provide a better, clearer view of how people respond in different situations.