Ethics

  1.  Q:Is it more important to be a good person or to perform good acts (virtue ethics vs. action ethics)?
    1. As this chapter has stated I believe these two ethical ideas most of the time go together.  People who are good generally act good, and people who do good do so because they are good.  If I have to chose one though I believe you’d have to perform good acts for it to be of any benefit to others or the environment.  I do not mind someone who is faking being a good person by simply performing some random good acts, I’d rather that than have a good person who sits idle while good things need to be done.  The only time I really see my answer changing is if someone is a bad person but is intentionally doing good acts with the hidden agenda to do a greater evil with the favor that they earned from doing the acts of good.  In this case I would rather have a good person who neither does good nor bad.
  2.  Q:Do the ends justify the means (ends ethics vs. means ethics)?
    1.  I believe in most cases you have to look at the end, or the goal you which to achieve.  I think this lessen simplifies it a bit by using trees as an example because it is a lot easier to say yes lets just chop down some trees to save the rest of the forest.  A much more difficult question might be, would you be willing murder a select few people just because you think that will save the majority?  I believe the ends are important but one who focuses solely on this and does not concern themselves with all the possible means of achieving this end will almost always regret their decision and in hindsight see that there were other means to achieve their  end.  That’s why I would put a lot more focus on the means so I could have a clear conscience when I reach the end.
  3. Q:Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs. altruism)?
    1.  I personally value my life as the same as all others.  I do not believe in necessarily going out of your way for others or accepting less from them.  I think you should look to make yourself comfortable, but you reach that level you should then look to boost others up to your level.  You do not look down upon someone or something as if they deserve to be below you, but you also don’t just accept a lower status.  I think this even view is sustainable for the environment as well, you simply don’t use resources because you can, you use them out of necessity and comfort but no more.  If we all looked at our life as equal to everything else it would promote a much more sustainable planet.

2 thoughts on “Ethics

  1. Hi Wesley, my name is Mara Bunting and here is a link to my blog:
    http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/03/module-3-ethics-10/

    I really enjoyed reading your blog and I found it very interesting that we had the same views for each question. For question 1, I really liked when you compared someone fake performing good acts with someone who is a good person who sits idle when good things need to be done. I agree strongly with your opinion. For question 6, I liked how you included the environment into your answer along with expressing your opinion about yourself valuing your life the same as others.

  2. Hello Wesley!

    Very interesting responses to all of the questions – I enjoyed reading them! – If you care to read mine, here’s the link: https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bi7

    I really like your answer to question 1 – I too think they go hand-in-hand. Good people just generally do good things; that’s what makes them good to begin with. They might not be “Nobel Peace Prize” good actions, but good on various levels (especially in regards to who/what the action is done to). Your answer for number 3 reminds me of a quote I heard: “Never look down on someone unless you’re helping them up”, but I like how you took it to the next level by incorporating the environment in it as well. If we were to use resources simply because we could, we would surely deplete them quickly and cause great imbalance.

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