Question 1: Is it more important to be a good person or to perform good acts (virtue ethics vs. action ethics)?

Question 1 answer: I think it is better to do good acts than being a good person because I believe that actions speak louder than words. I cannot think of a situation where I would not do something to help another person. When I was younger I found a twenty dollar bill in the middle of an isle I took it immediately up to the cahier and she and I look to see if anyone else was in the store. She saw that my mother and me where the only ones in the store at the time. She gave me the money back and told me since I helped her look to see if anyone was in the store that I may keep the money for my good deed. She told me that I did the right thing by trying to find the rightful owner of the money so I should be rewarded for my good behavior.

Question 2: Do the ends justify the means (ends ethics vs means ethics)?

Question 2 answer: I think it depends on what the goal is that you are trying to achieve. If you are trying to get good grades and you stay up late to study and miss a couple of hours of sleep to do so and your grade is good than it was worth staying up late. I believe that if your grades or good and you feel tried the next day and still get a good grade than the lack of sleep is worth the grade. On the other hand if you stay up late to study and your grade is bad then it was not worth it in the end. I believe than the sleep is worth more than the grade because you did not improve with less sleep. If your grade improves with less sleep than the late night studying is worth the lack of sleep the next day but if it does not than it is not worth the lack of sleep the next day.

Question 6: Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs. altruism)?

Question 6 answer: I think my life matters the same as anybody else’s because I believe my life is not less or more important than anybody else’s. I believe that everyone’s life matters equally no matter who they are. For example, if me and a friend were being held hostage by a gunman I would try to come up with a plan to save both of our lives and get out of the situation safely. I would even try to get the gun away from him using some of the self-defense moves I learn while I was a girl scout. If me and my friend were able to get out safely I would consider this plan a success but if one of us is killed or injured during this than I will feel guilty if I survived and my friend did not. If we were able to get the gunman to be capture without anyone being hurt that would also be a good thing.