It is more important to be a good person than to perform good acts. I believe this to be true because being a good person and doing good things are entirely different. Often, people who are not particularly good hearted, can perform seemingly charitable acts for their own personal gain. For example, I went to high school with a girl who was developmentally disabled, and mercilessly tormented by the “popular” kids in my school, as she regularly expressed her love for our school’s quarterback. This particular quarterback had known her since middle school and had always treated her with more cruelty than anyone else. Our school had a long standing tradition where on the school day preceding a home football game, players would give their jersey to a girl of their choice to wear in support. Prior to the final home game of his senior year, the quarterback, not moments after ridiculing her to his friends, offered the girl his jersey, making her dreams come true. The story spread throughout the school, and was featured in the local paper. The following week, the school board presented him with an award for his kindness. Although the quarterback continued to bully this girl following his seemingly charitable act, he basked in the praise and glory that came along with it. Thus, while he performed a good act, he was not then, and is not now a good person. One act of kindness cannot make up for years of torment.
In almost all cases, the ends do justify the means. Often times, while something may be considered unethical in and of itself, its outcome justifies the action itself. A very controversial topic in today’s society is that of abortion. While I am personally pro-choice, many people believe abortion to be unethical regardless of circumstance. When having a child would be detrimental to the mother’s health, potentially resulting in death, can unethical means can be justified by the ends? In a situation of this kind, it becomes a debate of the value of human life, be that the life of the unborn fetus or its mother. While aborting the child may be unethical, it is necessary to save the life of its mother, and therefore the ends justifies the means.
While I don’t believe my life to be worth more than another, I do believe that is important to put yourself first. As someone who has spent most of her life putting everyone before herself, I know the value of self-love and time spent on oneself. Altruism is incredibly important, but we would be naïve to think that being selfish under certain circumstances is fundamentally wrong. Perhaps the best example is airplane safety. When riding an airplane, it is common knowledge that in the event of an emergency you are to put on your own air mask before helping others. If you pass out for lack of air, you cannot assist others in wearing an air mask. Simply put, you are unable to help others if you do not first help yourself. Caring for yourself allows you to have the strength to take care of others.
3 thoughts on “Ethics (questions 1, 2, and 6)”
Hi! My name is Kristin. Your post stuck out to me because I think you made me a very good point in question number one that I had not thought about. In my post, I wrote about having the opposing view point, that it is more important to perform good acts. However, your side got me thinking! I really liked how you added a personal example and I now agree that maybe not all acts of “kindness” are for the better. I think being a good person and doing the right things can help change the world as well. Good post!
If you want to check out my post, here is the link https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bg2
Hello, my name is Brenton. I enjoyed the personal experience you shared when writing about the importance of being a good person versus performing good acts. However, I think it is more important to perform good acts. While your example did highlight a complicated situation, the balance was uneven. Plainly speaking, a great number of bad action versus one good action does not seem to be the best example. While a good act was performed, it was not reinforced with subset good action. If the good action was balanced by bad action then I would be more likely to come to your side. I tend to agree that the ends justify the means. As long as the quarterback would cause good actions as a result of his unintended first action, then previous bad action would not matter as much.
Hi. I truly agree with what you said in you answer to question number 1. I was bullied by some of my class mates from middle school until about the sophomore in high school. Some of them apologized for the bullying and now since become my friends and have never bullied me since. I feel that even if someone was a bully they could still change and become a good person.
Hi! My name is Kristin. Your post stuck out to me because I think you made me a very good point in question number one that I had not thought about. In my post, I wrote about having the opposing view point, that it is more important to perform good acts. However, your side got me thinking! I really liked how you added a personal example and I now agree that maybe not all acts of “kindness” are for the better. I think being a good person and doing the right things can help change the world as well. Good post!
If you want to check out my post, here is the link
https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bg2
Hello, my name is Brenton. I enjoyed the personal experience you shared when writing about the importance of being a good person versus performing good acts. However, I think it is more important to perform good acts. While your example did highlight a complicated situation, the balance was uneven. Plainly speaking, a great number of bad action versus one good action does not seem to be the best example. While a good act was performed, it was not reinforced with subset good action. If the good action was balanced by bad action then I would be more likely to come to your side. I tend to agree that the ends justify the means. As long as the quarterback would cause good actions as a result of his unintended first action, then previous bad action would not matter as much.
Here is a link to my posting: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/01/module-3-brenton-mcdonald/
Hi. I truly agree with what you said in you answer to question number 1. I was bullied by some of my class mates from middle school until about the sophomore in high school. Some of them apologized for the bullying and now since become my friends and have never bullied me since. I feel that even if someone was a bully they could still change and become a good person.