Applying Common-Sense Morality to Life
I believe that I could and do “live with” W. D. Ross’s theory of common-sense morality as my own moral code. I agree with some of the principles that Kant and Utilitarianism follow, but I believe they are too strict. I agree with the system of moral dilemmas and priorities that common-sense morality uses. It allows a person to prioritize moral obligations and choose which obligation is more important based on a particular situation. I believe common-sense morality can easily be applied to situations at home, at work, and at school.
First, I will give an example of how common-sense morality can be applied to a situation at home. Let’s say that my father and I have plans to meet for dinner on Thursday night. According to Ross, I have made a promise to meet him for dinner and this situation would fall under the obligation of fidelity. In class on Thursday, I find out that I have an exam in my business ethics class on Friday and I know that I should stay home and study for it instead of going out to dinner. After thinking about the situation, even though my father and I had previous plans to go to dinner, I would decide to change our plans to a later date and study for the exam. By doing this, I broke my promise to go to dinner, but the exam is more important. According to Ross, I have prioritized the exam over the dinner in order to fulfill by obligation of self-improvement.
Second, I will give an example of how common-sense morality can be applied to a situation at work. Let’s say that I work at Wendy’s fast food restaurant. James, the manager of the store, and I are the only staff members in the store. All of the sudden, James accidentally spills hot grease all over his hand and is screaming for help. I immediately run over to help, but then a woman in the dining area screams to call 911 because her husband is having a heart attack. Now I have a moral dilemma. According to Ross, I have an obligation of beneficence to both people, but I need to evaluate which person’s health is more at risk. In this situation, the person having the heart attack is in much more danger than James. I would call 911 and then tend to James.
Shakespeare plays have fascinated audiences with their ability to seemingly portray the depth of the meanings and descriptions of each scene. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was for many years the world’s best love story and influenced readers and writers from around the world. Understanding the contrasting natures is one of the most important themes in this play and underpins the plot. Love and hate, life and death, lastly, missions and reality will only increase every reader’s sense of curiosity.
Truth connects women’s rights and abolition by defining a woman as a man’s equal by including examples of her experiences. Truth concludes her speech, “If the first woman God ever made...
In the Women’s Rights Convention of 1851, Truth repeatedly equates her worth to that of a man by her physical and intellectual abilities. Some of Truth’s statements at this convention include: “I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man. I can carry as much as any mean, and I can eat as much too”. These statements highlight the fact that women were thought to have less physical and intellectual ability than men, and as such were afforded fewer rights. By recurrently equating herself to men in all of these arenas, Truth displayed the commonalities between men and women. Furthermore, Truth’s views came from the stance of a former African American slave, who were not. In this speech, Truth paralleled herself, a black woman, to have the same abilities as a white man, thereby attempting to change her audience’s view of the current existing American capitalist patriarchal structure that put white men at the top and women of color at the bottom of the
On average, the typical millennial needs constant feedback on everything they do, and want to share their entire lives on social media. They want everyone to see their accomplishments. This differs from some of the older generations that may value their privacy and do not want to have their entire lives placed on the Internet. According to the “Millennial General Research Review,” Millennials are considered more accepting of other races and cultures compared to the previous generations. The Millennial generation puts more emphasis on trying to be culturally and racially accepting towards everyone. In addition, they are able to multitask better then any of the other generations, changing from task to task at an extremely accelerated rate and receiving their current information from technology like the internet and television as compared to other forms that were previously popular (“Millennial General Research Review”). Overall, Millennials have many defining characteristics that have helped shape them to who they
The authors reasoned that the millennials are special in that they were wanted as children and “have absorbed the adult message that they dominate America’s agenda” (p. 60)” (37). She also states that “, In addition to the unique traits ascribed to millennials, there have been serveral key health, academic, and sociale concerns associated with his generation.” (38)
Mustapha Mond is the most powerful character in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Mond keeps scientific and historic documents from reaching the people. Mond believes that science, religion, and art threaten Brave New World if let out, but religion would be bane of Brave New World.
Would you describe a dog as capable of being evil? Or a cat? Or a chimpanzee? Most likely you could not. We humans belong to the taxonomic kingdom of Animalia and are therefore animals. Our species has evolved from animals that looked and acted more like the modern chimpanzee than we do. So at what point did we go from being creatures of instinct do developing the concept of morality? A great deal of literature has been written about morality, examples of which can be located in fiction and non-fiction as well as in scientific, theological and philosophical fields. Specific examples include the bible, as well as the writings of Plato (c. 424-348 BCE), Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) and John Steinbeck (1902-1968). Morality is a trait that is developed as a result of practical material situations and experience as exemplified in The Grapes of Wrath, challenged by St. Matthew, but reinforced in the writings of Plato; we humans are born morally neutral.
In our lives, people generally do as they want or believe is right, to produce what they think will create satisfaction and happiness. I think that each situation we face in live doesn’t have to be constricted to one moral theory. In order to make good decisions, I believe an intelligent being would weigh all possibilities in a given situation. These moral theories should be combined when dealing with problems. The issue with these moral theories separately, is that it confines us to only one way of thinking. We must consider outcomes, stick to our duties, and trust that our own virtues will allow us to make the best decisions.
Every human being carries with them a moral code of some kind. For some people it is a way of life, and they consult with their code before making any moral decision. However, for many their personal moral code is either undefined or unclear. Perhaps these people have a code of their own that they abide to, yet fail to recognize that it exists. What I hope to uncover with this paper is my moral theory, and how I apply it in my everyday life. What one does and what one wants to do are often not compatible. Doing what one wants to do would usually bring immediate happiness, but it may not benefit one in the long run. On the other hand, doing what one should do may cause immediate unhappiness, even if it is good for oneself. The whole purpose of morality is to do the right thing just for the sake of it. On my first paper, I did not know what moral theories where; now that I know I can say that these moral theories go in accordance with my moral code. These theories are utilitarianism, natural law theory, and kantianism.
There is a generation that is 80 million strong who is the start of a new millennium. The people of this generation are called the Millennials. Many think of them as closeminded, faulty and not fit to run the major cooperation’s of the world someday, yet the true identities of this group are just starting to be revealed. Millennials can easily and thoroughly understand the new advances in technologies. They are also the most diverse and open minded generation yet. They show a lot of potential and could someday change the world for the better. A writer for Time magazine, Joel Stein, does a wonderful job describing the millennials for who they truly are in his article “The New Greatest Generation.” While Stein agrees with Twenge in that millennials show faults, he maintains that their faults have potential to make them the next greatest generation. Despite the negative connotations millennials receive, they often have the ability to be resourceful with the technology, open-minded to the diversities the world displays and have a lot of potential.
The Millennials generation is widely known to be “entitled, narcissistic, self-interested, unfocused and lazy” as Simon Sinek (2016) said in his interview on Inside Quest about the Millennial generation. Essentially, he is saying that Millennials have issues that will cause them problems for developing in the real world. I agree that Millennials are not prepared for the real world and they do have issues. Sinek (2016) starts off by asserting the Millennial generation is unprepared for the world because of by four categories parenting, technology, impatience, and environment.
Lewis says some folks object to the fact that there is a moral law. Some believe that this is no more than our herd instinct that has been developed. Other say what we call moral law is just a social convention, something that is put into us by education. The author points out that the way each opponent defends his side really shows that there is a right and wrong independent of what people think. Even though the idea of decent behavior makes us suspect whether there is a real natural law of behavior at all, the author concludes that the things we are bound to think about when we explain the differences, really prove just the
A Millennial is a person reaching adulthood around 2000. According to Simon Sinek in his interview with Tom Bilyeu when he answered the “infamous millennial question”, he describes Millennials predominantly as being entitled. Sinek claims that they are tough to manage, self-interested, unfocused, and lazy. He claims this is all due to parenting, technology, impatience, and the environment. The parenting aspects caused problems
Normative theories of ethics do not have much descriptive strength, so they have been modified in an effort to explain differences in moral judgment. Researchers have since moved from examining the outcomes of decisions towards exploring different processes individuals use when making decisions among various possible outcomes (Strong & Meyer, 1992).
Ethics is a system of moral principles and a branch of philosophy which defines what is acceptable for both individuals and society. It is a philosophy that covers a whole range of things that have an importance in everyday situations. Ethics are vital in everyones lives, it includes human values, and how to have a good life, our rights and responsibilities, moral decisions what is right and wrong, good and bad. Moral principles affect how people make decisions and lead their lives (BBC, 2013). There are many different beliefs about were ethics come from. These consist of; God and Religion, human conscience, the example of good human beings and a huge desire for the best for people in each unique situation, and political power (BBC, 2013).