Enlightened absolutism

Natasha The War on Morality Morality is defined as principles concerning the line between right and wrong, or good and bad. Ethics is defined as moral guidelines that govern a person's actions. Morality and ethics are often suspended in war time. This fact is demonstrated by the massive amount of civilian casualties that wars seem to carry as well as, the destruction of homes and land. But why would such a thing occur. After all, wars are fought by humans who have the capacity for compassion.…

An Exploration of Othello: Delving into the Mind Frame of Desdemona and Iago Immanuel Kant’s view on ethics and morality is that in order to determine if we are acting in a fashion that can be deemed moral, we have not only a duty to ourselves but others. It is duty that determines our actions. Kant establishes certain limitations and restrictions upon the notion of duty, narrowing down a definition which would allow us to therefore be able to readily distinguish “whether the action which agrees…

Throughout history, philosophers have attempted to define and establish countless theories relating to the moral principles of the world. Some of these ethical theories include, but are not limited to, Cultural Relativism, Egoism, Kantian Ethics, and Divine Command Theory. Cultural Relativism is the theory that there are no objective moral claims across cultures. Another theory, Egoism, claims that human acts should be done solely in the interest of ones self. Kantian Ethics is centered around…

What is Right? What defines a morally right action? How can we as people distinguish what actions to take in different situations? Kantianism and Utilitarianism both offer frameworks to determine morally right action, however these moral theories function differently. Utilitarianism offers the Greatest Happiness Principle as a framework for moral decision making. Thus Utilitarianism deems an action can be deemed morally right when it can be said both that the action provides the greatest…

A part of human nature is to be protective in a violent and aggressive way towards others who try and do harm to you or your family. Thus, since humans started to interact with one another, strong and powerful bonds have been forged between them forming societies that today make up a common color coded map of the world. Within each section of the map the society that resides there developed and implemented an ethical code for the betterment of the whole society. As a society grows larger, the…

Common belief in today’s world is most likely based on an individual’s behavior such as upbringing, personal crime history, personality, etc. These factors might seem reasonable and logical but is it these factor or is it just merely the idea of nature vs nurture? In “The Power of Context” by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell examines the role of the environment and its impact on one’s decisions and behaviors. He does this through three key broad ideas: the Power of the Context, the Law of the Few, and…

Most individuals generally like to think of themselves as moral human beings. They often directly link their moral judgments to reason alone. However, in the 18th century, Hume made the suggestion that moral judgments could be based on emotions rather than unadulterated reason. In his Moral Philosophy, Hume argues that moral distinctions are not derived from reason, but rather determined by moral emotions: feelings of approval, or disgust felt by spectators who contemplate a moral trait or…

It is morally acceptable for one's self to believe that African Americans are inferior and that an Obama presidency will be disastrous for our country. Ethical Subjectivism claims that since there is no universal moral code or truths, people cannot be told that any of their morals is morally wrong or even right. If a person sincerely believes that it is right to burn a church down because the occupants are African American, according to ethical subjectivism no one can set up and say that is…

ethical absolutism - the principle that ethics are not relative. I will be arguing that this is indeed the case: ethics are not relative; morality is an absolute that, no matter how much it is meddled with to suit the needs of someone, will not change. Ethics is the study of a way of life and its values, including a system of general moral principles and the conception of morality and its foundations. Ethical relativism states that ethics are a matter of cultural norms, while ethical absolutism…

In general, being self-interest person does not mean that you are a greedy person because being self-interest person is a powerful weapon where the individual goes in search of a personal benefit, where the person feels motivated to include social and psychological thoughts. However, being greedy is when you want to have something with access to accumulating and to not share it with others, In other words, someone who thinks of their self. As human beings, we all act with a self-interest mindset…