I. Is it more important to be a good person or to perform good acts (virtue ethics vs. action ethics)?
In my opinion, I believe it is more important to be a good person rather than just someone who does good deeds. I think that the best example in today’s world is in politics. If a politician promises people everything and tells them what they want to hear, does that make them a good person or someone doing good deeds? Would you rather elect a person who does good deeds by promising you something that may not be followed through or the person who knows he can’t promise the world but is the genuinely better person? This does not mean that someone can’t be both a good person who does good deeds. The article refers to the example that most people who care about the environment are usually the ones who take action and vice versa. I believe this can also be true for the politicians as well, but when it comes to the question of which it is better to be, I would say that it is better to be a good person.
2. Do the ends justify the means (ends ethics vs. means ethics)?
I would have to say that the ends do not always justify the means. The ends are how you get to the means, which is the final result. I would say that most ends do not justify the means unless there is a life or death scenario. When you are learning something new or are in school, is it the final result that matters more than the path of learning? If the ends justified the means in this situation, then it would not matter how much you learned during school, but rather whether or not you completed it. As for the trees in the forest, I would say that the ends do justify the means. If it is a life or death situation like forest fires, then the end result of saving lives would justify the cutting of trees, even if it does not seem ethical to cut down hundreds of trees.
6. Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs. altruism)?
The question of whether my own life is worth more than others makes you really think about your own life. In my opinion, I would have to say that my life is equal to those who choose the right path in life. What I mean about that is everyone is given the same opportunity in life when you are born. Everyone has the choice to be a good person or to be a criminal. I would compare my life to normal everyday people of society and say that our lives are equal. When it comes to people that commit crimes or are genuinely awful to other members of society, then I would say that my life is worth more than theirs. It sounds awful to say that and it is, but I feel that if you choose to throw your life away or be an awful person, then I can’t allow myself to say that our lives are equal.
Hi John,
I was just reading some of the posts from our class and yours caught my eye. Your answer to your second question made me think a bit. I know you feel the ends do not always justify the means. You provided an example of college. I’m not so sure that example would work. Most courses (for the major at least) require at least a C in the class to pass. So if you don’t acquire a satisfactory grade, you won’t graduate. Basically, if you don’t learn the material to retain it well enough after graduation, you’re not going to graduate. You also provided the example of cutting trees in a forest, saying it can be a benefit to hinder a forest fire and save lives. Others may argue that the cutting of tress may actually result in killing our resources (forests provide clean air for us to breath). So while saving us in the short term, can it really kills us in the long term?
I really don’t know what way I sway on this topic (one reason I didn’t choose it, although I did choose virtue ethics over action). There are so many possibilities, so many ways to analyze it. Almost too many. It’s a great debate though!
If you’re interested in looking at my post, you can do so here: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/01/28/ethic-discussion/
Tanya
Hi John!
I liked reading about your perspective of whether your life is more important compared to others. It was interesting to see your outlook on how everyone is given the same opportunity to live their live the way they choose. I agree on the fact that although I would consider everyone equal, sometimes it’s hard to give the same view to someone who commits crimes or puts negativity into the world in other ways. Ethically, it is hard to have that view, but personally it makes sense. I chose the same topic so heres the link to my blog if you want to check it out!
https://sites.psu.edu/geog30/wp-admin/post.php?post=43090&action=edit
Hi John, My name’s Lexie and here’s my post!
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/01/30/lexie-gersbacher-ethics/
I noticed that for both of our blog entries, the first question we choose to pick was the one asking if it’s more important to be a good person or perform good acts and we both agreed it’s more important to be a good person. What’s even more crazy is we both referenced politics! Like you kind of mentioned, if you’re a good person, you’re most likely going to perform good acts as well.
We both also chose the question regarding our worth compared to other’s worth. Starting off you said your life was equal to those who choose the right path in life. Our responses differed because you mentioned if a person had chosen to do something wrong or made a mistake, that you’re life meant more than theirs. Is this because the word ‘worth’ correlates to life for you? To me, I mentioned that when I hear worth, I think importance. So maybe the way people depict the word ‘worth’ will greatly impact how they go about answering this question.