Pitfalls of Critical Thinking “The Cider House Rules” When I started watching The Cider House Rules I did not know what to expect. I came into this experience completely blind, as I did not watch the trailer or read any of the movie reviews beforehand. In retrospect, I am glad I did this because it prevented me from forming any biased opinions before I watched the movie. The Cider House Rules focuses on many controversial topics such as abortion and incest. It is a coming of age story about a boy named Homer and how he struggles with his own personal demons involving his adoptive father Dr. Wilbur’s work. Throughout the movie Homer meets various other characters that help open his eyes to how the world works and make him rethink his views …show more content…
In the beginning he believes they are morally wrong and disagrees with Dr. Wilbur’s work to preform them. During this part in the movie I found myself suffering from the Absolutism critical thing pitfall. Absolutism is the belief that there one rule and no exceptions (Ruggiero 108). I am pro-choice and believe women should be able to decide whether or not they want to put their bodies through the strain of carrying a child they do not necessarily want. I found myself one hundred percent agreeing with Dr. Wildur and his choice to preform illegal abortions and judging Homer because he believed that women should be forced to carry the child. However, after contemplating Homer’s views on this issue I can see why he had those beliefs. He grew up and worked in an orphanage where all of the children were unwanted, so how he sees it if their parents were able to get abortions none of those children would exist. He believed that the child should not have to suffer for their parent’s mistakes, and if a person does not want the responsibility of a child then they should not have sex. Even though I still do not agree with Homer’s views on abortion I can understand why he has …show more content…
Wilbur and Homer’s relationship. I found it a bit strange that Wilbur started forcing Homer to stand and help during births and abortions at such a young age. How he essentially decided Homers life for him and isolated him from the world. The pitfall of critical thinking I am guilty of is Biased Consideration of Evidence. This is when a person only looks for evidence to back up their bias (Ruggiero 115). Early on in the movie I already decided I did not like their relationship and only looked for more evidenced that backed up my belief. After thinking back and reanalyzing some of what happened in the movie, I can see that their relationship was not all bad. Clearly Dr. Wilbur loved Homer like a son and wanted what was best for him. Even if he might have gone about it in the wrong way, he still had good intentions at
Alcohol has always been a part of feminine culture, but it took a dramatic shift in the early 20th century. In the book, Domesticating Drink, Catherine Murdock argues that during this period, women transformed how society drank and eradicated the masculine culture that preceded this shift. Murdock draws from a few different sources to prove her argument, such as: etiquette manuals published after the turn of the century and anecdotes from the time period. She provides many interesting and unique perspectives on how drinking culture evolved, but she shows a clear bias towards “wet” culture and also makes very exaggerated claims that turn her argument into something that is nearly impossible to completely prove.
George Henry Durrie’s painting Holidays in the Country, The Cider Party was painted in 1853. The painting measures 22 by 30 inches. The gold frame surrounding the artwork measures 30 inches high by 38 inches wide by 4 inches deep. The frame is made of layer upon layer of molded wood with the interior part of the frame sporting a bubble texture and a beaded strip separating the painting from the bubble texture of the frame. The painting is oil on canvas. There is virtually no indication of brushstrokes on the surface almost as it was a print and not a painting.
...tially causing the death of his child, depending on how one may define abortion and personhood. This outcome interferes with the mother and fetus’ autonomy. Being her decision maker, and making decisions that are to be in her best interest, the husband should understand why his actions are unethical and potentially harmful.
Holding Odysseus as the model of the homo religiosus who is well trained the rituals and ways of the gods, Homer attempts to show how the history of such a man's life can be riddled with suffering. Also, no matter whether the suffering is inflicted by fate, the will of the gods, other people, or man's own desires, the god's themselves have divined a system that will work to alleviate the intolerable condition of man.
"In him [Oceanus] Homer salutes the essence of all things, even the Gods, and regards him as a divinity whose power was inferior to none but Zeus'"
deceitful and Homer is a sexist who holds a double standard of morality for men
In conclusion, the authors believe that nihilism, or the lack of grounding in decision making, is rampant in modern times. They believe that humans need to strive for something outside themselves to truly enjoy life. In the times of Homer, the Greeks strived to be in tune with the Gods. The authors believe that this religion largely prevented nihilism in this population, but it is important to note that they do not point at the specific religion itself. Instead, they point at the outward striving. Either way, the moral of this story is to believe in something rather than nothing at all.
Among the characters is Wilbur and Charlotte. Wilbur had Character vs. Self conflict concerning friendship as she thinks of Charlotte, “I’ve got a new friend, all right! But what a gamble friendship is! Charlotte is fierce, brutal, scheming, and bloodthirsty-everything I don’t like. How can I learn to like her, even though she is beautiful and, of course, smart?” Such thoughts of Wilbur indicate that he had fears and doubt on whether to accept Charlotte as her friend (White 41). But Wilbur is helpless and needs friend to rely to save his life so to solve his problem, he tries to be like Charlotte so as to solve his conflict. Such an attempt is comprehensible to readers that Wilbur imitates Charlotte’s spinning of a web, so as to relate to a friend’s ability. Such mimicking is supposed to alleviate the lack of confidence friendship. As their story continue, Wilbur discover that his impression with Charlotte is wrong. Underneath Charlotte’s cruel exterior, she has kind heart and a loyal and true friend to the very
...ther’s sovereignty over her body outweigh the right of an unborn child to live. The answers to these questions are very diverse as a result of the diversity of the American society. With the issue of abortion, one’s attitude toward it is going to be based on many things such as religious background and personal morals. There is no black and white answer to the abortion issue. Luckily we live in a country where we are able to decide for ourselves whether something is morally right or wrong. Thus, ultimately, the choice is ours. As with the many other ethical issues which we are faced with in our society, it is hard to come to a concrete answer until we are personally faced with that issue. All we can do is make an effort to know all of the aspects which are involved so that we may be able to make a sound decision if we were faced with this problem in our own lives.
Since television came into existence, it has evolved into a useful tool to spread ideas, both social and political, and has had a great effect on the generations growing up with these heavily influential shows. To these younger generations, television has taken the role of a teacher, with the task of creating a social construction by which many of us base our personal beliefs and judgments on. This power allows television shows take the opportunity to address problems in a manner that many audiences can take to heart. Many television shows present controversial topics in a comical matter, in some ways to soften the blow of hard-hitting reality at the same time bringing attention to the issue being addressed. In the television show, Everybody Hates Chris, season one, episode four entitled “Everybody Hates Sausage”, the stereotypes that continue to fuel racism are examined in a satirical motif, and class is presented in a comical way, but carries serious undertones which present a somewhat realistic view of the different social strata within the United States.
... supremacist gang, to rioting in an Asian owned grocery store, to finally brutally murdering someone. We observe as family ties become increasingly strained in every way, the viewer can easily conclude that Derek’s racism as well as his eventual influence on his younger brother ultimately contributed to their own downfall. As controversial as this movie maybe for the offensive language and brutal violence, it is a movie that deserves to be seen, and even discussed. It really provides insight into some factors within society that cannot be contained by the law or even deterred by even the harshest punishments. Even though American society is becoming more modernized as time goes by in terms of tolerance, racism will unfortunately always be prevalent in society and inevitably it will also lead some individuals to violently express their distorted mentalities.
...e open to all women at any point of pregnancy, and that the woman reserves the right as a fully conscious member of the moral community to choose to carry the child or not. She argues that fetuses are not persons or members of the moral community because they don’t fulfill the five qualities of personhood she has fashioned. Warren’s arguments are valid, mostly sound, and cover just about all aspects of the overall topic. However much she was inconsistent on the topic of infanticide, her overall writing was well done and consistent. Warren rejects emotional appeal in a very Vulcan like manner; devout to reason and logic and in doing so has created a well-written paper based solely on this rational mindset.
It is almost unanimously agreed upon that the right to life is the most important and sacred right possessed by human beings. With this being said, it comes as no surprise that there are few issues that are more contentious than abortion. Some consider the process of abortion as immoral and consisting of the deprivation of one’s right to life. Others, on the opposite end of the spectrum, see abortion as a liberty and a simple exercise of the right to the freedom of choice.
One of the most controversial issues in this day and age is the stance people take on abortion. The two main positions that people take are either of pro-choice or pro-life; both sides, although polar opposites, tend to refer to both the issue of morality and logical rationale. The pro-life side of the debate believes that abortion is an utterly immoral practice that should be abolished. On the contrary, abortion should remain a legal procedure because it is a reproductive right; its eradication would not only take away the pregnant person’s autonomy, but would also put more children in financially unstable homes and the adoption system, and would cause an increase in potentially fatal, unsafe abortions.
In Aristotle point of view abortion would be considered morality wrong because he believes everyone has a person and we were designed for a purpose. Virtue of Ethics “can evaluate the morality of behavior by examining the moral character that such behavior produces” (Velasquez 488). According to Smith abortion is wrong because it promotes a moral character ‘characterized by careless, irresponsibility, dishonesty, and lack of principles” (Velasquez 488). This theory emphasizes that everyone should take responsibility for their actions and that our choices defined our character. I tend to agree with this we are all responsible for our actions and those actions tend to have consequences that tend to affect us personality. This view reminds me of the view of adultery cover in this chapter someone who commits adultery also says a lot about their character because it shows that we cannot trust on this person because they just can keep their word or because they are your seeking pleasure without really considering the consequences and who they can affect.