- Is it more important to be a good person or to perform good acts (virtue ethics vs. action ethics)?
Personally, I struggled with this question at first, only because with my personal experience, I see these two go hand in hand. I truly believe in order to for you to be considered a good person, you have to possess a level of selflessness by performing good acts. I see the good acts as validation for yourself that you are doing the “right” thing, contributing positively to the greater good, which in turn makes you a good person. Performing good acts makes you feel positively, and seeing that you are actually serving as a type of aid for a particular community shows that you are in turn, a good person. Selfless acts help you put an action to a description of characteristics which make up “good” people. In our society, I think that the general norm would be to give back when you can, as it is associated with positive moral values.
2. Do the pleasure and pain of non-human animals matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans (speciesism)?
I believe that the pleasure and pain on non-human animals matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans, but that does not mean that this statement holds true for society as a whole. For example, there are animal rights activists and anti-mammal hunting organizations which sole mission is to stop hunting/malpractice. Though I am not a member of organizations like P.E.T.A, I am strongly against the maltreatment and slaughter of animals and wildlife. I don’t personally own any fur jackets, but I do wear Ugg boots, which contain sheepskin. If I were to investigate organizations more, and took a closer look at labels, I’m sure I would notice that finding materials that have not been tested on or made out of some sort of animal parts would be quite difficult. I admire those who go to great lengths and become vegan, but I do not have the will power. I love bacon too much.
3. Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs. altruism)?
Again, this question is really hard to answer. I think that my life is just as important as anyone else’s, no more, no less. However, in a particular circumstance, I know that those feelings can change. The most obvious example for me would be my life against a family member’s. I can’t say that I would see my life as more important. In fact, I would see my life as being less important, because I would be willing to sacrifice my life for someone else’s in my family. Additionally, if my life were being threatened, I would definitely defend myself to the best of my ability. For me, it is all circumstantial. I will treat any other person with respect in general, and I see them as my equal.
Hi Shanda,
I agree that the first question seemed to cause some struggles to knowing how to answer it. Although I would also have to say that in order for someone to be a good person then they must possess some forms of good acts in themselves. I like a lot of what you said on the third question. The reason why is that just as you would sacrifice anything for your family I know I would do that too. I think that family plays a big role in one’s life that one would be willing to do anything for their loved ones. I enjoyed reading your opinions regarding these questions. If you get the chance check out my blog: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/01/module-3-ethics-carmen-madrigal/
Hello Shanda, this is Wenjie Zheng. I strongly agree with the point you made to the first question. I think it is a very sophisticated to think about this philosophy question. Is our goal to perform good actions? Or we need to be a good person? I think it is more important to take good acts. Recently I am reading a novel that talks about a Ming dynasty of China. Zhang was the first officer of the empire besides the emperor. He worked days and nights, cooperated between the other officers and the lazy emperor, made many very beneficial legislation to the public. Up till now we see him a good person and took good acts. However, he is also very corrupted as he collect tons of money into his account from others. His actions also disturb many people, whose profits are impacted by his legislation. Do you still think he is a good person? So my point is that performing good acts is more important as it is very beneficial to other people.
Here is a link to my post if you want to check out my points made on this topic.
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/01/31/m3la_wzz5097/
Hi Shanda! My name is Cassandra Oresko and I was very interested and agreeable with your view on our opinion of our lives being more important than others. It is interesting to see you have mixed feelings about this question, but in a time of a family crises I would completely agree with you that I would see my family being more important. My ethics view on family is fairly simple, I believe they always come first no matter what. We contrasted in regards to the pain and pleasure of non-humans VS humans. My mother works for a company that uses rabbits for lab experiments; without this many job opportunities in her company would not be possible. I loved this post, please check out my blog if you have a chance! http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/author/cao5241/