Moral treatment

In the essay “Why Abortion is Immoral,” philosopher Don Marquis uses utilitarian principles to argue that “abortion is, except in rare cases, seriously immoral…[and] in the same category as killing an innocent human being” (223). However, he deliberately avoids relating his thesis to abortion in the specific contexts of rape, maternal death, and severe postpartum health complications. Thus, in my analysis of his claim, I plan on adopting Marquis’ utilitarian perspective to evaluate the…

interested in Aesop’s Fables from Greece since I was a child. The fables in Aesop’s collection usually have simple context, but they reveal deep meanings. My passion of reading fables was inspired by my grandpa, who was always trying to educate me with morals. Every time I went visit him, he would spend a long time telling me stories about the fox that could not reach the grapes, or the grasshopper who did not prepare food for the winter. As I grow up, my curiosity of fables has been increased.…

the presence of immorality in politics through the dramatisation of Brutus’ internal conflict: “Brutus: let the gods so speed me as I love/ The name of honour more than I fear death”. Shakespeare juxtaposes honour and death to reflect the intrinsic moral conflict of Brutus’ private loyalty and public responsibility. From the ambiguous resolution of…

provide an interesting take of morality – for instance, that he believes love, or feelings, to be an important factor of human morale – which he expresses using the colours white, black, and grey. However, the reader should not expect to learn about morals through this story, as everyone possesses his or her own opinion, but rather should reconsider what they value is right and wrong. The exploration of colour in “The Lady with The Dog” proves insightful in understanding the author’s perspective…

In this exegesis I will show that Nagel’s argument is centered around the relationship between moral luck and the condition of control, where he highlights the inherent conflict between them. In Nagel’s paper, titled Moral Luck, he defines moral luck as when one’s actions lead them to be treated as an object of moral judgement, despite significant factors which strip them of the condition of control (Nagel, 26). The condition of control states that there is an agreeable array of factors that can…

phrase, “the end justifies the means,” means that doing morally wrong actions can be justifiable if the outcome is morally correct, but can it? Morality is defined by the individual, and can also be reflected by one’s religion. For someone who has high morals, the end would not justify the means and vice versa. Through religious beliefs, psychological theories, and law and order , the end does not justify the means. Religion consists of beliefs and practices that a person contributes to. One…

In his essay entitled “Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor” Garrett Hardin explains through the metaphors of a lifeboat and a commons pasture to explain his theory that aiding poorer countries, as well as permitting immigration to richer countries, is bad for the global population in the long run (Hardin 584-585). Hardin effectively uses credible sources and logical statistical arguments and examples drawn from them, while excluding emotional and personal examples, to present his…

Theory in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a reoccurring theme throughout the novel involves the moral education of Huck. This theme of positive character development within the harsh social constructs of the 1930’s and 1940’s, defines Huck’s morality. The psychoanalytic literary theory helps support this theme of choosing morals over the majority of society. Throughout the teachings shown to Huck by the Widow Douglas and the society around him, he…

III. McGeer, “Varieties of Moral Agency: Lessons from Autism (and Psychopathy)” Victoria McGeer responds to Kant and Kennett’s conclusion that “reverence for reason is the core moral motive” and claims that this debate has been too narrowly focused on empathy; we need not try to reduce morality to one cognitive capacity or affective disposition. McGeer focuses on the question of whether our moral capacities are rooted in sentiment or in rationality; do our affective states guide us, or does…

Because rule utilitarianism relies on moral rules to determine the permissibility of actions, it has the resources to avoid the problems act utilitarianism faces concerning individual rights by establishing rules that prohibit infringement of individual rights. For instance, one should not enslave others because, in most instances, slavery has more negative outcomes than not enslaving others. Therefore if not enslaving others was a rule, rule utilitarianism would consider all slavery immoral,…