Enlightened absolutism

Should people embrace euthanasia as one of the methods of inducing one to a “merciful death?” There are several reasons why people would argue for and against euthanasia. The process of inducing somebody to death can seem unimaginable but it is emerging as one of the most preferred mode for death particularly for patients with terminal illnesses and whose chances of survival are very low. Terminal illnesses take a great toll on the health of a person, and this presents with signs such as…

German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhaur once said, “Compassion is the basis of morality” (Morality). As Schopenhaur’s quote suggests, morality is based in the ideas of having compassion for the wrongdoings committed against those around you, and this presence of such compassion is require to have sound morality. Morality is the acceptance and obeying of the standards of what is deemed right due to the moral expectations placed on an individual or society. In Phillip Dick’s Do Androids Dream of…

Morality is a system of moral conduct, or conformity to ideals of \correct human conduct. In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, one system of morality was so distorted that Equality creates his own system of morals. Throughout Anthem, Equality, the narrator, goes through a series of events that led him to change his view of morality. At the end of Anthem, the collectivist society’s view of morality remains the same while Equality’s view of morality is changed to ideals of right human conduct.…

Justice is a term that people use to describe as an act or behavior that represents the good people present to others and themselves. It serves as a moral high ground that people strive to be, although sometimes these thoughts can be twisted into its opposite and cause pain, anger, and other negative emotions and acts arise within people. This pain erupts into what is known as injustice and is the epitome of what people should not strive for due it bringing so much negativity. It is a moral…

Utilitarianism is a branch of metaethics that focuses on the ideas of consequences, self interest, and unbiasedness. Instead of determining if an action is moral through the immediate effects, Utilitarianism skimps over the short term and instead focuses on the long term effects of actions. Actions are no longer based on intention but, rather the overall effects from those actions determines if the parent event was morally good or bad. Utilitarianism also emphasizes the idea that an individual’s…

Simple Subjectivism and Emotivism are two levels within Subjectivism. Emotivism is an enhanced description of Ethical Subjectivism, which is the idea that our moral opinions are based on our feelings (Citation). Ethical subjectivism is not a theory about good and bad. It does not try to tell us how we should live or what moral opinions we should accept. Instead, Ethical Subjectivism is a theory about the nature of moral judgments. It states that no matter what moral judgments one makes, one is…

“Different cultures have different moral codes”, James Rachels discusses in his article Why Morality Is Not Relative? (160). Moral codes differ from culture to culture and each culture tends to have their own individual standards. Cultural relativism is said to be “moral rules differ from society to society” (18). Cultural relativism can be looked at as a theory based on nature of morality. Each culture has their own moral codes, typically created by their ancestors. The moral codes claim what…

Morality is a particular system of values and principles of conduct held by one person or society. Each person has their own set of morals, and they can be influenced by things such as culture or other people. There is no universally right moral value system, and as far as morals go, there is no right or wrong. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, a man named Adolf Hitler persuaded the citizens of Germany that jewish people were a threat to their society. Adolf Hitler took control over Germany and…

How can we decide a better way in which society can become more ethical and moral between the ideas of Deontological Ethics and Virtue Ethics? With each term being ways in which Philosophers find it suitable to act, they differ because of how Deontology focuses on how right or how wrong an action is while Virtues are about a person's role and the good things they can do. With these two terms we have to determine how a person should be judged for the way they find it best to act. In order to…

“When you know how to use it, disobedience can be a virtue” (Coelho). This is what Wilde also similarly claims about disobedience being someone's virtue. Disobedience and virtue are known as two different things and are very opposite of each other, because of their meaning. But Wilde puts it into one category which determines disobedience as a good thing next to the list of goodness, righteous, honesty, kindness, and obedience. Since virtue already is determined as a high moral standard,…