¶ … Emperor's Club: Kantian, utilitarian, and Aristotelian views According to Kantian ethical principles, Mr. Hundert should have allowed the grades of his four students to remain as they were, and not altered them. A Kantian ethical schema suggests that a person should behave as if he is setting a law for all time, not merely reacting to the specifics of a situation. A Kantian philosopher would say teachers cannot subjectively change grades simply because they believe that a particular student emotionally 'needs' to win more than another student. Hundert allowed his personal feelings for Bell and Bell's improvement as a student to influence his decision-making, and hurt another student in the process. However, from a utilitarian standpoint, by showing Bell the importance of hard work and moral activity, a great service is done to society because Bell is the child of a powerful man, and will likely grow up to be a powerful adult. Also, from the point-of-view of the school, it is important to keep Bell's father happy to ensure his son...
As a result, Hundert should not be influenced by his sense that Bell 'needs' to win more than Blythe. However, an Aristotelian might also suggest that an obsession with only having three contestants is arbitrary to some degree, and Hundert could simply have declared that the scores between the third and fourth candidate were so close, both Bell and Blythe should be allowed to compete. This would be the most ethical option, since all four boys' labor would be honored. From a utilitarian perspective, it would ensure that Blythe would not be hurt, but Bell's new change of character would be reinforced. Only a Kantian might object that changing the rules about competing one year would mean that the rules were meaningless, and an infinite amount of new students could be added to the competition…
Introduction Kantian ethics, developed by Immanuel Kant, is a philosophical theory that emphasizes the importance of moral principles and individual autonomy. The Emperor Club, a 2002 film directed by Michael Hoffman, provides a thought-provoking exploration of Kantian ethics through its portrayal of a dedicated teacher and his students at an elite preparatory school. The film follows the story of William Hundert, a passionate Classics teacher at St. Benedict's School for Boys, who
In fact, from the movie's beginning, Bell's actions are both unethical and obnoxious. Bell uses his leadership skills to convince other boys to join him in his delinquency, offering them contraband materials and taking them on against-the-rules outings. Regardless of these actions, however, Bell's two largest unethical acts during the movie are the incidences in which he cheats. It is these incidences that suggest Bell has not learned from
Post-World War II Japan: A Nation in Transition Devastated by the Allies in World War II, Japan has emerged as one of the world's most economically and technologically advanced societies today. Some observers have suggested that the "Japanese miracle" was the result of a collusion between the government and industry to prosecute economic growth through a series of subsidies and favorable business climates, while others maintain this explosive growth was due
Education The definition of an educated person has no doubt altered over time. Certainly, many people have tried to formulate the ultimate definition of what an educated person is, and what achieving that state might entail. In my earliest thoughts about the subject, I probably thought an educated person was probably my grandmother; she seemed so wise, and certainly, I never asked her anything for which she didn't have an answer,
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