For this week’s blog entry I have decided to focus on questions one, five, and six of the ethics questions.

1.) Is it more important to be a good person or to perform good acts (virtue ethics vs. action ethics)? I feel that it is more important to be a good person rather than simply just performing good acts. If there is no personal drive behind doing a good deed, then it is like any ordinary action. To be a good person at heart and have a desire and passion for doing good brings more to society than one or many different good acts. In today’s society many people may do many good acts, such as donating to a charity, but does it mean as much if they were not truly a good person. For example, they could turn around and lie to a friend that same day. I don’t think my answer would change for this answer in different circumstances, for a person’s overall aura is more dominant than a few actions. However, it is important that good acts are still performed regardless of the personal motives of an individual.

5.) Do the pleasure and pain of non-human animals matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans (speciesism)?  Speciesism is a concept that grabs my attention and is not something we often think about. Although humans may be the dominant species on Earth, the others all matter the same. We coexist with one another and it is not fair to exclude any one species (non-human animals). At first thought I do feel that the pleasure and pain of non-human animals matter as much as the pleasure and pains of humans. They have brains like us and numerous studies have proven that they are fully capable of suffering, although it may not be in the same way as us. Regardless, they are creatures on this Earth and deserve more respect than often given. On other note, it is important to take this into consideration when you think about our food supply. We use some of these non-human animals as food sources and if we failed to do so overpopulation would likely occur, leading to a series of downward events. As a society we should obtain our meat sources by better means, especially that of major meat companies. Treating these animals as humanely as possible is not a hard task to do and they should not be suffering at all throughout their lives, even if they are being raised as only a meat source.

6.) Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs. altruism)? This question is somewhat difficult to answer, but after some thought I believe that my own life is worth the same as others in most cases. Personally, I feel that we were all created equal – it is what we make of our lives that sets us apart. However, I can certainly see other sides of this question. For example, the president may consider his life worth more than others because of his role and responsibilities. In a situation involving our loved ones, many of us may feel that our lives were worth less. If I ever had to protect my family, I would put my life on the line to protect their lives. However, even though I feel that we were created equal, the concept of altruism still plays a vital role. We should still help others in need and that sometimes involves putting one’s own needs aside.