various factors in moral experience. Thus, the recognition and acceptance of a principle of conduct as binding is called conscience. In theology and ethics, the term refers to the inner sense of right and wrong in moral choices, as well as to the satisfaction that follows action regarded as right and the dissatisfaction and remorse resulting from conduct that is considered wrong. In earlier ethical theories, conscience was regarded as a separate faculty of the mind having moral jurisdiction, either
Moral Responsibility in The Great Gatsby Bang! Gatsby's dead! George Wilson shot Gatsby! However, who is morally responsible for killing Gatsby? The obvious answer would be George since he pulled the trigger. However, it is clear, if for no other reason than for the unimportance of George in the book, that others were also partly responsible. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom, Daisy, and George are morally responsible for the death of Gatsby. Tom, because of his
The Message of Moral Responsibility in To Kill a Mockingbird Not only is To Kill a Mockingbird a fun novel to read, it is purposeful. Harper Lee wrote the novel to demonstrate the way in which the world and its people should live together in harmony through a basic moral attitude of treating others with respect and kindness. The novel received the Pulitzer Prize in 1960, which places it among the best adult novels ever written; although it achieved this high recognition, today’s primary readers
Perhaps television's most prominent government agent of the past decade, Jack Bauer, protects America from terrorist after terrorist in the popular Fox TV show, 24. In show, Bauer has to make multiple moral decisions within short periods of time, a majority of which have drastic implications towards both him and the American public. In every season Bauer is faced with the question, "To or for whom am I responsible?" At times, this question becomes very personal, involving close friends as well
Multinational companies like Caltex have a moral obligation to improve the living conditions of the citizens who live and work in those countries. Their role cannot be limited to increasing shareholder value, while perpetuating and fortifying political regimes that persecute and discriminate a group, or groups of their citizenry. I liken this to reforestation, and the responsibility that governments and corporations have to our planet. A corporation cannot simply make a profit and deplete natural
Moral Development in Shelley's Frankenstein Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a commentary on the natural disposition of man. By personifying her vision of a natural everyman character in the form of Victor Frankenstein's creation, The Creature, Shelley explores the natural state as well as the moral development of man, and develops conclusions regarding both. But before Shelley could create her commentary on man's natural dispositions, she was in need of a character to represent her "natural everyman
Moral obligation is a controversial matter. We currently live in a “world of plenty”, however, the number of human beings dying or suffering from hunger, malnutrition or disease is staggering. In this essay, I am going to examine the arguments for and against moral obligation to helping the poor and starving, and in particular I will take into account Singer’s opinions on the matter. “Do we have any obligations to, or moral responsibility for, people living in other countries? If so, are we responsible
The range of truthful philosophy has been very much broadened. A sustained focus on groups through the watchful eye of collective moral responsibility has resulted in this widening. For the most part, when treated as somewhat of a social practice, it has been interpreted that moral responsibility falls under the spectrum of interactions between friends, fellow citizens, colleagues and relatives. Working from this thread of thought, harm being caused to one person by another sparks blame in a responsible
Free Will and Moral Responsibility Free will and moral responsibility has always been one of the most basic and fundamental elements of philosophy. It is undeniable that there is a connection between free will and moral responsibility. Different philosophers throughout the ages have viewed this connection in both similar and differing ways. The first connection between free will and moral responsibility can be seen by Aristotle and Epictetus through their views of the voluntary and involuntary. It
authors seemed to feel that it is our moral responsibility to at least take the well being of future generations into account in our decision-making (Note: these authors also provided us with powerful arguments as to why we have a moral obligation to future generations). In trying to figure out why there were so few arguments on the other side of the issue, I realized that there simply aren't many ways to argue against our moral responsibility to future peoples. I would like to
The Confucian Filial Obligation and Care for Aged Parents ABSTRACT: Some moral philosophers in the West (e.g., Norman Daniels and Jane English) hold that adult children have no more moral obligation to support their elderly parents than does any other person in the society, no matter how much sacrifice their parents made for them or what misery their parents are presently suffering. This is because children do not ask to be brought into the world or to be adopted. Therefore, there is a "basic
influence for good or evil the lives of others around us. The existentialist claims that there are no moral absolutes, and there is also no basis for knowing the consequences of our acts, but we must act, so we must choose and this is known as the existential dilemma. The truth of our existential dilemma reduces us to a state of anguish, as no matter what we choose we cannot escape responsibility for our choice and guilt for the consequences. Existentialist Jean Paul Sartre states, "we are condemned
Fatherhood, Responsibility, and the Internet “As if you needed another reason not to trust a skank”(Diatribes, par 1). This is the opening statement on one of the endless amounts of websites on the internet. This particular website, and many others, is about a certain aspect of fatherhood. On the web one can find a site about pretty much anything, and when looking into a particular subject like fatherhood they can find all different types of views on fatherhood, organizations of fathers,
can be very intriguing and can almost reach the point of being paradoxical. Ultimately, free will determines the level of responsibility we claim for our actions. Obviously, if outside forces determine our choices, we cannot be held responsible for our actions. However, if our choices are made with total freedom than certainly we must claim responsibility for our choices and actions. The readings I chose offered two quite opposite theories on individual human freedom, determinism
tried to evade other moral laws to the purse of pleasure. His soul is unclean of sin and ugliness of a pleasure life. Dorian Gray's innocence's of youthful mind is destroyed. To a corrupt failed life of virtue, but from downfall bad influences. Yet ideal influencing of passion counterbalanced him. There is a contrast in that of age and youth to good vs. evil. The author Oscar Wilde of the novel represents a theme of corruption. Dorian Gray's life goes back and forth of moral and immoral perspectives
newly born child and its life thereafter. He bases his argument around the responsibility of the individual, the technology that allows men to be overlooked, and the rights movement that has lessened the responsibility of the man in fatherhood. Callahan begins his argument with the discussion of what it means to be a father biologically and morally. He relates these two terms by saying, “Human beings bear a moral responsibility for those voluntary acts that have an impact on the lives of others; they
back before the person’s life. Augustine does not believe that our choices are determined by internal factors because the responsibility of those choices are beyond our control and alleviates us from such a thing. Therefore freedom no longer exists because the choice was made from within. This is compatibilism; determinism is compatible with “human freedom and moral responsibility,” and Augustine rejects this. Augustine sees human beings having metaphysical freedom: “the freedom to make decisions and
control over the source of their actions, meaning that people can have control over their desires and beliefs, and because of this they have free will. She also tried to show that her view of soft determinism was compatible with free will and moral responsibility. While Holmstrom’s theory about the self’s being in control, willingness to participate, and awareness of an act causes the act to be free, has some merit, her choice to incorporate soft determinism ultimately proved to invalidate her theory
confront a complex and multi-dimensional reality in which their every action affects people and events outside of their immediate context. By burdening humans with the consequences of their histories, story and memory comprise a foundation of moral responsibility. Since memory and story are subjective, our past, a seemingly immutable reality, is subject to their creative hands. These hands define as malleable entities the past, the future, and that which exists or has its basis outside of the present
holism (as deep ecology does). Self-in-relation is defined by the relation of intentional inclusion. This relation is given a functionalist, non-mentalistic interpretation. The notions of ontological foresight and moral foresight are introduced to enable determinations of moral responsibility without falling back into the problematic universalism which otherwise results from the functionalist view of cyborg self-in-relation. Ethical deliberation does not typically begin with an explicit articulation