" (Aristotle, I: 8) Aristotle uses this as a divining rod for dissecting the various relationships which are perpetuated amongst men. Here, Aristotle's practicality is of particular relevance, with his semantic explication of terms for the relationship between virtue and happiness offering a rather thorough template for human morality. This denotes that while we do not fully accept the idea offered by Kant that that which is right for one is right for all, we do accept some balance where perceptions of right and wrong may differ but where a clear relationship between happiness and goodness permeates motives and creates something of a universal standard. This balance is underscored by Plato's consideration of the subject of governance in the Republic, where the philosopher promotes a central leadership which is meritorious on its strength of achieving this compromise. The second part of his book introduces the central aspect of his argument's epistemological motive, with the prescription for proper leadership extending from a view that is ethically, intellectually and socially instructed. At the crux of his argument, Plato writes that "until philosophers...
Ross. The Internet Classics Archive.
Then morality is relative, not absolute (Kreeft) Weaknesses One weakness of moral relativism consists of the consequences of not having moral constraints (Kreeft 2003). Correct or good morality, if valid, should always have good consequences. Incorrect or bad morality should always have bad consequences. The fact is that all wrong or immoral acts and attitudes bring on "good" or pleasant feelings. Moral relativism has never produced people worthy of praise. It
I have a clear written mandate that guides this decision. The other alternatives do not have the same clear, written mandate as the one that I made. While a utilitarian approach may have yielded a different decision, in my position as a safeguard of public safety I am not obligated to undertake a utilitarian position unless I can do so without compromising my primary mandate. This is something I
Morality in Literature Journey as pursuit for 'true' morality: Literary analysis of works from William Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, Moliere, Dante, and Samuel Coleridge More than depicting the nature of humanity, literature has also seen the preponderance of artistic works that delve into the morality of humans. Society has been exposed to the dichotomy and conflict between goodness and evil, or, more concretely, between what is considered as right or wrong. The standard
Moral Good and Moral Value Determining moral "good" is a fundamental philosophical study. Only the lazy philosopher would revert to codes of ethics. Ethical standards come from somewhere, and generally those standards can be grouped into three main categories of analysis: consequentialism, deontological ethics, and virtue or character ethics. While these three modes of thinking about the moral good can sometimes interact with one another to create more complex moral analyses,
Discussion According to theorists such as professor of Religion Michael H. Barnes (2003), a tremendously wide range of different religious beliefs and thought on religion (both across contemporaneous cultures as well as among cultures existing at different historical periods) is exceptionally useful for evaluating the literal truth of specific beliefs in any particular society. On the other hand, it may be possible to strip away those differences that are impossible to
Such differences may lead us to question whether there are any universal moral principles or whether morality is merely a matter of "cultural taste" (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks and Meyer: 1). If there is no transcendent ethical or moral standard, then cultural relativists argue that culture becomes the ethical norm for determining whether an action is right or wrong. This ethical system is known as cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the
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