Lifeboat ethics

There seems to be a hypocritical problem with Socrates’ defense to the Athenian Court during his trial. He claims to the Athenian Court that he was on a mission from the Oracle of Delphi and Apollo. The problem that came to be with his defense was, he recently criticized Euthyphro for claiming that being part of his father’s execution was the will of the gods. There is a seeming hypocrisy for Socrates to claim divine motivation in his defense but say it is not plausible when Euthyphro uses…

Though there are many blurred lines, people generally have a strong sense of what is wrong and right. If someone is faced with a situation that rubs them the wrong way and the niggling voice inside their head whispers that something is not right, their conscious responds accordingly and dictates their reactions. It is the accumulation of these moments when personal morals are formed. Atwood and Zamyatin both depict a world turned upside down in their dystopian novels The Handmaid's Tale and We,…

A “Catcher in the Rye” is characterized as a person who tries to protect other people’s innocence. This means keeping a person shielded from all the horrors and hardships of the modern world. Holden Caulfield strives to be a “Catcher in the Rye”, his only problem is his desires don’t always point him in this direction. Inside Holden’s unpredictable conscience lies two “Holden’s”. The Carnal Holden who wants to procreate and maybe even start a relationship, Also the more collected “Holden” who…

The search for beauty has been a fundamental quest of human civilization. We all have subjective ideals of the beautiful but as Plato would argue, we also have a bigger underlying understanding of beauty itself. No one goes to the Grand Canyon and considers it ugly; even the most adverse to natural environments have the ability to recognize its magnitude. Artistry has been built upon the ideals and dilemmas surrounding beauty. Throughout the years, artists have endeavored in individual journeys…

Plato’s Republic is widely regarded as one of the most important philosophical works of all time, which contemplates some of humanities most challenging questions. What is justice? And what type of life should one lead? These ideas are set out by Glaucon and Adeimantus in The Republic and attempt to determine whether a just life is more valuable than an unjust life. Socrates responds to this challenge by concluding that the just life is worth more than the unjust, however not even Socrates’s…

Among accounts of what it is that defines a person, two positions stand as rivals. There are arguments that assert that personal identity is purely biological, while other philosophers push that there is something more than the mere body that makes a person who they are. In this paper, I will argue that Eric Olson’s thinking-animal problem does not entail a leap from psychological to biological accounts of personal identity, on the grounds that Lynne Rudder-Baker’s Not-So-Simple Simple view of…

The Ethics of Prometheus Bound Can ethical theories determine the goodness or badness of a fictional character? While these belief systems can certainly be applied to fiction, there can be no single moral interpretation for a story, because ethical systems vary so greatly. Christian deontological ethics, Kantian deontological ethics, and consequentialist ethics all have individual ways of assigning moral value to actions. In Aeschylus’ tragedy Prometheus Bound, Prometheus steals fire from the…

Everyone lies. Various scenarios prompt people to deceive others, to protect one’s self, to protect one’s family, and to protect one’s reputation. A lie is a statement used for the purpose of deception for one’s reputation or name. In Salem, Massachusetts, one’s name and reputation means everything because if one has a bad name, he or she will not receive trust or respect. This play suggests that lying is vital at certain times and that many people hope to achieve an exceptional reputation…

1. Treatment Goals There were several treatment goals established in therapy between Captain Cahill and I - first and foremost, to form a relationship where he feels comfortable talking about his traumatic experiences and to be able to bear witness in an environment where he feels safe and cared about. The most important treatment goal was to be able to remember his traumatic experiences without reliving them. Other goals were to be able to engage in close relationships again and to accept…

Morals are a set of beliefs or choices that one would define which is right or wrong. When one says that a moral action requires the ability to make moral choices is similar to how we make our own choices. For something to happen within our lives, we must decide whether to initiate the action or to refrain from it. In other words, we would either do or do not. An action cannot be initiated by itself as it must have another force behind it. This concept is similar to a game, one must input…