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

It is my belief that it is more important to be a good person than to perform good acts. However I know that not all people have the ability, the empathy, the compassion, the want to be good people. Humans are selfish so it is more realistic that people perform good acts. How much those acts are truly worth though I believe are dependent upon the reasons. I think there is more worth to person when they are good and that their deeds hold more value because they are done for the right reasons. It is worth more for a good person to volunteer because they want to give back and help out than it is for a person to volunteer because they need to fulfill a class or probation requirement. The person who is doing the good deed because they are a good person will put more heart and feeling into it than the person who is there to just log hours. They’ll go the extra mile, while the parolee will goof off, lounge around, talk back, be lazy, text, grimace, etc.

Do the pleasure and pain of non-human animals matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans (speciesism)?

The pleasure and pain of non-human animals does matter as much as the pleasure and pain of humans. Just because we are a superior species does not mean that our feelings are above others. Just because we have the power to inflict pain and pleasure, the power to speak up when we feel things does not mean non-human emotions matter less. Getting stabbed hurts just as much to them as it does to us. Losing someone we care for is as sad for them as it is for us. In fact it may even be worse, some animals like orcas have an extra part of there brain than humans have that processes emotions and feelings on a much stronger and deeper level than we do. I acknowledge that there is a pecking order and a need for food. I don’t think that because we choose to eat meat, like our bodies are designed to do, that means that we value non-human animal emotions less. I still acknowledge they have feelings and don’t like that they have to go through pain so that we can eat. Which is why I’m a firm believer in ensuring that animals are not treated cruelly during the slaughter process. And that they use the least painful methods to carry it out so that the animals feel the least amount of pain and fear.

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

I think this is a hard question because I think that the answer can be circumstantial. I would like to say that I find my live equal to others, but then I think there are situations where I may find when my life is on the line that it is more or less than the life of others. When it comes to my family, my loved ones, when I think about if I were to have kids, I believe I would place the value of my life below theirs. If there was a gunman, I would tell them to shoot me in place of the ones I loved. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I saved my life over theirs. It is my personality to be a protector and I do that with those I care for and for the random people I meet and see. I can’t say that my life is worth more than another persons. I don’t think I’m worth more than anyone else. But I also know that when my life is on the line and I’m not around people I love, I can’t speak on what my instincts and reactions would be, I’d like to say that I would find myself worth the same as the next person and not worth more, but I can’t say that I might not try to save myself over someone else if given the choice. I may be too weak and scared to sacrifice my life for a complete stranger and in that instance my life to me would be worth more than someone else’s.