Morality In Gone Baby Gone

Improved Essays
The film Gone Baby Gone is about a little girl who has been abducted. One of the moral dilemmas that happens during the content of the film are the issues associated with duty and reason. According to the book Ethical Choices by Richard Burner and Yvonne Raley, Immanuel Kant’s theory “maintains that reason generates moral principles, his theory reflects the assumptions of rationalism” (Burner and Raley, 156). In this motion picture, Patrick Kenzie is one of the criminologists that gets hired by Helene, who misses her little girl. At the point when Patrick examines this case, he sees that Helene is an exceptionally imprudent and dismissing mother. She generally allows her little girl to sit unbothered while she remains at bars for 2 hours getting doped up and involves herself with a bunch of drug dealers. Truth be told, Jack Doyle, one of the drug dealers and a cop, seizes Helene 's girl. In spite of the fact that he infringes upon the law, Jack wants Helene 's little girl to have a genuine home. While Patrick picks up on Jack 's intentions and understands Jack’s reason to take Helene 's little girl, he needs to make a very important decision. Does he give Jack a chance to keep this young lady in hopes that she may have a healthier childhood? …show more content…
The powerful analysis in Gone Baby Gone goes into a lot of depth with Kant’s theory by analyzing the doctrines of the good will, imperatives, maxim, duty, and reason. Therefore, this causes the audience to choose between what is morally right and what is good, especially for the little girl who gets abducted because her mother, Helene, is an abusive drug addict. In some ways, the little girl was better off staying with her abductors rather than staying with her mother. Patrick knew this, but he chose to do what was morally right for the mother instead of what may have been better for the little

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Immanuel Kant On Duty

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Philosophy is a discipline that studies how one ought to live, as well as study reality, nature, existence, etc. However, there are a number of philosophers who propose differing sets of morals and have different ideas of living life to its fullest (Singer v. Mill). Kant proposes that moral actions are defined by the motivation of an action, and later on explains that moral actions are duties through reason, rather than inclination. This essay will explain the validity of Kant’s argument by first explaining Kant’s view on duty, then analyse his view of duty as an object of good will, which pertains to motivations without the slightest selfishness, then argue for moral duties motivated by duty instead of inclination based on reason. It is difficult…

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack Bad Environment

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Furthermore, Jack was very selfish. He would not even think about the people he was hurting with the drugs. For example, one of jack’s customers named Lucas was caught with drugs and would be serving prison time. Jack went to talk to Lucas but he wasn’t home, his wife was. She answered the door and invited jack inside.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. What is the relationship between subjectivity and identity (Pages 3-5)? Subjectivity and Identity often refer to one’s sense of being. The relationship between identity and subjectivity often displays people’s sense of being and ideologies.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Is the story, “A Horseman in the Sky”, of a young man’s decision to join the union military, which eventually lead him to a precarious circumstance; which he found himself confronted with an ethical and moral battle. A young Virginian man confronted his father with the news that he would be joining a military regiment in the state of Grafton, with this news the father, reluctantly, accepted the boys decision. The father, calling his son a traitor to the state of Virginia, added, “Should we both live to the end of the war, we will speak further into the matter” (pp. 98). The son departed soon after, and due to the broad knowledge of the landscape of Virginia soon found himself highly praised in his new military role fighting against the very state in which he resided. While resting following an extensive journey, the sentinel was awoken with an unsettling certainty; in an interesting twist of fate the…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The “summum bonum” is an ancient Latin expression which was introduced by the Roman philosopher Cicero, meaning “the highest good.” The old proverb is often used when answering the question of what makes for a meaningful life. In Immanuel Kant’s Religion Within the Boundaries of Bare Reason, he reasserts this “highest good” and describes it as “happiness proportioned to virtue.” Kantian philosophy rationally endorses the “highest good” of humanity, which cannot be fully attained in this world. This is an eternal good found in a “supremely powerful moral ruler capable of uniting virtue and happiness,” namely, God.…

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In this paper about ethical theories and cases I chose to discuss the positions of John Mill and Immanuel Kant, due to their dissimilar views on morality and ethical theories. From the four cases, I chose to apply the two philosopher’s theories to case number two. This case states the dilemma “My full-time (but not live-in) babysitter hinted that she would like to use my address to enroll her daughter in my excellent local public elementary school; her neighborhood school is awful. The alternative is for her to send her daughter to private school, a financial burden but not an impossibility. Should I offer my address?”…

    • 1295 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Yet, despite its influence, Kantian ethics seems to have several weaknesses. First, since people are emotional beings, reason and rationality is usually not enough to motivate them act morally. Another weakness is that Kant’s categorical imperative allows for much mistreatment of animals that should not be considered morally right. Therefore, although Kantian ethics provides many strong arguments, one should always critically evaluate the ideas that are presented, especially when it deals with such a subtle and controversial issue as…

    • 1255 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    David Hume and Immanuel Kant are both known for their great contributions to moral philosophy. Hume who is mainly known for his empiricism, skepticism and naturalism and Kant who is best recognized for his great work in metaphysics, ethics and also for his contributions in others disciplines in the area of philosophy. Although they were both exceptional philosophers and gave stupendous apports, Hume and Kant agreed nor differed in various aspect and ideas. Hume believed and is mostly based on his empiricism which involves the theory of the mind. Hume’s empiricism consist in to affirm that the moral foundation is not in the reason but in the senses.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are considered founders of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory where moral rightness is measured by what brings the most happiness to the most people. Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism because it is based on whether an action is morally justified by its consequences. Bentham and Mill differ in that Bentham reasoned that pleasure was measurable using hedons, units of pleasure, where actions with the highest score were the best action.…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kant believed that the moral worth of an action depends solely on the motive of the action and that the supreme principle of morality is the categorical imperative. Now, consider that a man named Jones is terminally ill with only a week to live and his last week will be full of pain and misery. However, Jones, his family, and his physicians all agree that a drug-induced, painless death would be preferable; Jones just has to determine if an induced death is morally permissible. In order to do this Jones’, his family and his physicians must test their action as a categorical imperative by using Kant’s Universal Law, Law of Nature, and Humanity Formulation.…

    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Kant explains that developing a “metaphysics of morals” help us gain a clear understanding of moral principles to align them with our moral duties. Kant argues moral principles are not based on factors such as circumstances, needs, and desires; they derive from a priori concepts. He makes the claims that actions are considered moral if they are performed without underlying motives, not on the basis of consequences, and not based out of mere duty. Kant is not a consequentialist and thinks intentions behind an action determines if it is good or bad. This is interrelated with the concept of good will.…

    • 1649 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, philosopher Immanuel Kant discussed this question by explaining the aspects that contributes to a morally right action. Based on the implications of what contributes to a moral action through the movie and Kant’s…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kant's Moral Theory Essay

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Kant’s moral theory is based on the fact that one’s action should be governed by a maxim that follows the purity of the will; the idea that one’s actions should be based on a will that aligns with duty and not on the consequences of one’s actions. In the contrary, rule utilitarianism is based on the consequences of one’s actions and how it impacts the overall happiness of the individuals involved. The following paper focuses on the ideas of duty ethics and utilitarian ethics; and how these ideas can be implemented in the case of James Liang. Kant believes that an act is morally acceptable when such an act perfectly aligns with one’s duty. Furthermore, he believed that all rational beings are obligated by the demands of duty.…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the case of morals, philosophers are usually separated into one of two categories, those who consider actions ethical or not ethical based on their motives, and those who consider an action ethical or not ethical based on the consequences of these actions. Immanuel Kant is a deontologist as opposed to consequentialists, making him an advocate for the former category. Kant is of the opinion that we are held responsible for our actions because we possess the ability to consider and explain the things we do, so any moral judgment should be based on our reasons for doing things. We should of course always contemplate the consequences of our actions, but they are not entirely at the mercy of our reason. Reason is only accountable for the…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    My Moral Philosophy

    • 1383 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Moral philosophy is the study of moral judgments or value placed on decision about what is right or wrong, good or bad, just or on just. Business philosophy is the standard, principle or policy placed on who may behave outside the norms of organizational culture, emphasis upon ethical behavior enables employees to know how they should react when faced with ethical dilemmas and the consequences of their actions. MY PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY. As an individual, I believe that keeping a low profile life is very vital to me in a sense that people around me irrespective of their cultural, ethnical and political background.…

    • 1383 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays

Related Topics