Cowardice

Virtue ethics is a rather old theory with Chinese origins but is normally associated with the Greeks. Unlike most theories such as consequentialist and deontological where rule, acts, and consequences are most important; virtue ethics mainly emphasize character and being a good or virtuous person. The only rules that are important are the ones that are written by a good person or if they will help a person become virtuous. Virtue ethics asks the questions: How should one live? What is considered…

marinate over his own dark wishes and he is afraid of his mind’s capability for darkness. He pleads, “Stars hide youre fires / Let not light see my black and deep desires” (I. 4.51-51). Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, thinks this fear of desire is cowardice. She asks him “Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valour / as thou art in desire?” (I. 7. 39-41). Her question suggests that character is defined by those deep desires that one tries to hide. To act on those desires is…

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir.” This quote, from the book, The Kite Runner, speaks of the theme of cautiousness and consequences. Although it is purely fictional, the story is strikingly realistic in that the critical decisions that the characters make are instances that could happen to anyone. The story itself is propelled by the aftermath of the winter of 1975. But Amir is not the only character…

Virtue ethics is a philosophy that define moral decisions as something that depend primary in the individual itself; however, it can take in account other factors like culture for example. A big philosopher of virtue ethics was Aristotle, who based his theory in the fact that the individual learn moral virtue primary through habit and practice rather than instruction. For Aristotle, ethics should lead the individual into a meaningful life where the actions we do are based on what’s right and…

Imagine if you were one of the many people who was forced to go to war after graduating your high school career. In the novel, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, he explains the experiences in Vietnam through the actions of soldiers in the book. Bravery and death were themes shown throughout the book because O’Brien focuses on the behaviors of the soldiers’ living in fear. Both themes makes a connection when the soldiers had to prove they’re courageous to fight in the war while other…

Self-discovery isn’t the easiest thing to accomplish in life, especially for young people. The Red Badge of Courage, set during the Civil War, portrays the reality of how a young boy--Henry Fleming--would feel fighting alongside the war. Out of rash choice Henry decides to enlist himself in the army, it isn’t specified how old he is, but it’s quite evident he’s young. The novel does nothing more than set up how Henry’s perspective changes towards life and the meaning of being a man through his…

The definition of honor is to have high respect, or to do something good for the benefit of others, not yourself. There are different ways of defining honor, but this is the most generic one. In our world, there have been dramatic changes in this definition over time. Whether it be in American culture, or other countries cultures. The following are examples of how these are seen. In 1500 England, a man's honor was defined through his courage, manliness, or name. So when someone back then…

“The only motive that there was was to completely control a person… and keep them with me as long as possible, even if it meant just keeping a part of them.” Jeffrey Dahmer explains here why he became the animalistic being people have seen him as for the last 25 years. Some questions remain, however. How do societies define the term “monster”? What shapes our perceptions of monsters, and how do time and culture affect them? Several centuries separated Grendel, from the epic poem, Beowulf, and…

In historical book Redcoats and Rebels, Christopher Hibbert takes a well-known story of the American Revolution, which is mostly told as a heroic story from the American perspective, and retells it from a perspective of British loyalists incorporating a lot of information from various sources. Although the book “might be useful to students of history as an introduction to historical works the author used for writing it, which are included in bibliography” (p xi), Mr. Hibbert wanted it to be…

Aristotle, a known philosopher, once said “man is by nature superior to the female and so the man should rule and the woman should be ruled”. Which leads to the question, can women and men truly be equal? Looking closely at the interpretation of women and men throughout history, it is clear that many ideas of a woman and man have been passed down, which has become known as traditional gender roles. However, in ancient Sparta such traditional gender roles were not a prominent function in the…