Individualism

David Hume and John Witherspoon each raise interesting, yet contrasting, views on civic virtue and its relationship with political well-being. While Hume articulates that through proper checks and balances liberty and government will be protected from an amoral statesman; to the contrary, Witherspoon states that without a proper moral footing any government is destined to fail. Witherspoon’s assertions are supported by the French philosopher Montesquieu. In contrast, Price makes statements…

Utilitarianism This story addressees cloning. In a utilitarian’s viewpoint, it may be a good thing. It does aid in prolonging the life of the individuals cloned. It also can help in that, those who are cloned can go on with life not just for themselves but to continue in society contributing to the society as a whole. Cloning also has an argument against it. What about the clones? Are they lesser beings? Do they deserve to be slowly donated away without any consideration of them as individuals…

Rawls considers classical liberalism-integrity of individual rights and freedoms, the principle of equality of citizens and the principle of religious tolerance. However, Rawls rejects utilitarianism as a way to support these principles. He believes that no empirical principles (and these include the utilitarian principle) can serve as the basis of the moral law, and therefore, a reliable guarantor of human rights and freedoms. Their importance is so great that no considerations of general…

Medical Marijuana and the Principles of Autonomy The right to determine what shall be done with one’s body is a fundamental right in our society. It is the patient’s rights to decide whether what medical treatment they receive. I argue that based on the principles of autonomy that it is someone’s freedom and right to do what they please with their body. I argue that medical marijuana should be legal if we all have personal autonomy. Marijuana also known as cannabis or hemps has been used as a…

Living in a Utopian Bubble A society should be made up of different people, ages, religions, color, and freedom and not in a world where everyone is the same, have restricted freedoms, and where everyone worships one individual. In both, 1984 by George Orwell and North Korea are both examples of that type of society, called a dystopia. A dystopia is “an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives” (“Dystopia”) and a utopia is “a place of ideal perfection especially in…

Independent thought is something cherished in this society. It allows us to have our own feelings, lives, and ways of getting through our problems. It also allows us to be unique because everyone has different independent thoughts. We are fortunate enough to have this, unlike many dystopian societies that seem to contradict our way of life. In the stories, The Lottery, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, and Harrison Bergeron we are shown that independent thought is not something everyone holds.…

Since the dawn of humanity, humans have sought out those who are akin to themselves. Out of this search, conformity was birthed. Conformity proved useful during the beginning of human existence. Early humans needed to think and act alike in order to survive. However, as humans progressed, the need for uniformity slowly diminished. Small amounts of people began to break away from prior social constructs, and form their own ideas. These people were often openly chastised for their actions due to…

In this chapter, the key social problem Dorothy Lee is addressing to us is the conflict that is seen between personal autonomy and social structure. Lee looks at different societies, like the Wintu Indians of California, The Sikhs and the Navaho Indians of Arizona and New Mexico, and shows “how the principle of personal autonomy is supported by the cultural framework.”(Lee,5). She shows how this conflict has been solved within these societies. All three of those societies have different ways…

Some social movements and socio-political ideologies have embodied resistance by challenging hegemonic socio-cultural norms and refusing to accept the concept of normativity. Embodied resistance can take the form of embracing “body-mind” (Clare, xvi) difference, recognizing that the individual body is not independent from the social body, and not complying with norms that perpetuate and contribute to systemic oppression. This essay will explore how resistance is embodied in social movements and…

Comparing myself with my fellow friends, I can consider myself to be lucky enough to be able to travel to almost every prominent country and city such as Paris, Japan, Singapore and so forth. Most of them are for accompanying my father doing his business. Importantly, I learned that regardless how countries are well developed, they differ from each other when it comes to cultural context. Therefore, based on my wide experience, I prefer to live in a collectivist country for the many benefits…