Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals Essay

Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals - Essay Example The categorical imperative proposed by Immanuel Kant places the standard for moral good in actions rather than traditions or beliefs. Kant argued that the actions of people should be judged as moral or immoral based on their personhood and dignity. The actions of a person should be treated as the right or wrong for that person only. In other words, morality is a principle originating inside a person's mind which compels that person to act in a particular way. We usually label a parson’s activity as good or evil based on our traditional beliefs and customs rather than the significance of that activity to that person. Family, society and the religion influence us very much in the formulation of our attitudes, thoughts, views etc. There is a tension between Kant’s conception of morality as rooted in universal reason and the manner in which most of us received our moral education. Moral education usually proceeds through following moral examples. We learn what it means to be good by observing the character and actions of those we believe to be good (family, friends, and religious figures). Kant challenges the underlying premise of this ordinary conception of moral education. How can I know that the character and actions of any given individual are good unless I have an independent conception of moral goodness? Kant even extends this argument to such an exemplary figure as Jesus. Write a paper examining the cogency of Kantâ€℠¢s challenge to the idea that moral norms can be derived from examples. This paper addresses not only the cogency of Kant’s critique, but the further question of how moral education is possible in Kantian terms also. Morality is often been defined by us with respect to traditions and customs. It is a fact that most of the religions are giving moral education to their communities based on their beliefs and customs. For example, Christians believe in Jesus Christ and they give moral education to their communities based on the teachings of Jesus. On the other hand, Muslims give moral education based on the teachings of Islam. Christians strongly argue against the killing of all the human beings whereas some of the fundamental Muslim groups believe that killing of enemies of Islam as a sacred act rather than a sin. Muslim fundamentalists justify the killing of innocent people citing examples like the massacres of America and Israel against the Muslim community. Muslim fundamental ists developed their moral laws or moral education based on the bitter experiences faced by the Muslim community at some parts of the world. According to Kant, an action can never be considered moral, if it is motivated by certain examples rather than the consciousness and wisdom of the individual. In other words, even if we face some bad experiences from some other people we have no moral right to take revenge for that. It is a fact that American soldiers are killing many of the Muslim fundamentalists in Iraq and Afghanistan in the name of war on terror. America is citing the examples of 9/11 incident for the moral justification of their actions. However, according to Kantian moral principles, neither the killing of Muslim fundamentalists in Afghanistan and Iraq, nor the killing of innocent people in other parts of the word by Bin Laden or terrorists, can be justified We normally assess our actions and other’s actions based on the observation of the character and actions of those we believe to be good (family, friends, and religious figures). For example, Christians put the actions of Jesus as a base in assessing the actions of others. Jesus taught his disciples to love their neighbors just like they love themselves. So,

Injury and violence free living Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Injury and violence free living - Research Paper Example The rate of unintentional injury deaths were noted to be 40.0 deaths per 100,000 population with 2007 as the baseline year and as much as 60.6% of children have been exposed and affected by violence, either directly or indirectly (National Prevention Strategy Indicators, n.d.). In this regard, the current discourse aims to investigate and explore this priority area in terms of providing details on evidence-based approaches to address injuries and violence in identified populations and communities. Evidence-Based Approaches to Addressing the Priority Area o Healthy and Safe Community Environments In a study written by Merzel & D'Affliti (2003), the authors have delved into evaluating 20 years of community-based programs to determine effectiveness in promoting healthy and safe community environments. According to their findings, â€Å"the evidence from the past 20 years indicates, however, that many community-based programs have had only modest impact, with the notable exception of a number of HIV prevention programs† (Merzel & D'Affliti, 2003, p. 557). ... Negative health and developmental outcomes are concentrated among children living within high-poverty and disadvantaged neighborhoods† (Komro, Flay, Biglan, & Consortium: Summary, 2011, par. 1). It was therefore aptly recommended that collaborative efforts among community members are needed to design integrated strategies which would address physical and social factors that influence the well-being and development of children. These efforts are therefore consistent with the thrust of addresssing the priority area of injury and violence free living, as prescribed. o Clinical and Community Preventive Services The research study written by McElwaine, et al., (2013) identified behavioral risk factors that allegedly contribute to increased preponderance for mortality and morbidity. These factors included poor nutrition, smoking, physical inactivity and risky alcohol use. The findings revealed that despite efforts instituted in community settings, â€Å"preventive care was not provi ded opportunistically to all, and was preferentially provided to select groups. This suggests a need for practice change strategies to enhance preventive care provision to achieve adherence to clinical guidelines† (McElwaine, et al., 2013, p. 1). The information disclosed herein could be used by policymakers to focus on improving strategies to effectively provide preventive services that would ultimately address injuries and violence in the various communities. o Empowering People The facet of empowering people was specifically explored in the study conducted by Samoocha, Bruinvels, Elbers, Anema, & van der Beek (2010). Due to technological advancements in contemporary times, the authors explored patient empowerment through the provision of accessible information through

Owning a Computer for Writer Is Not Necessarily, Equal Right to an Essay

Owning a Computer for Writer Is Not Necessarily, Equal Right to an Equal Share of Resources - Essay Example The articles are on the case against helping the poor. The article argues that everyone on the earth has an equal right to an equal share of resources. In the current situation, two-thirds of the nation is poor and the other third comparatively rich with the United States being the richest of all. The article argues on the plans that are made by those countries that are rich and those that are not rich. This brings the difference between the countries. The third article is about sustainability. In the recent situation, the term sustainability has been wrongly used to refer to practices that are reputed to be more environmentally important than others. The term is indispensable and should be used as the cornerstone for all the planning that is used in a country. The axioms of sustainability are defined in the article. The first axiom is that a society that remains to use acute resources untenably will collapse. The second axiom is population growth or growth in the rates of consumption of resources cannot be sustained. The third axiom is that to be sustainable, the use of renewable sources must be preceded at the rate less than or equal to replenishment. The fourth axiom is that the use of nonrenewable energy sources and the rate at which they decline must be greater or equal to the rate of depletion. The last axiom brought about is that sustainability requires that the substance that is introduced into the environment from human ac tivities be reduced and compact harmless to biosphere roles. The issue that all three essays are concerned with is on resources. In the first essay, the argument is on the reasons that make the author not being able to buy a computer.  

Should everyone allow to own gun Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Should everyone allow to own gun - Essay Example The Founders knew that by ensuring the right to own arms, citizens would have the ability to protect themselves from that which might endanger their life, liberty or pursuit of happiness. This could include bodily protection from persons and animals or from an oppressive government that threatened the freedoms outlined in the Constitution. â€Å"The Second Amendment reflects the founders’ belief that an armed citizenry, called the ‘general militia’ was a necessary precaution against tyranny by our own government and its army† (Krouse, 2002). Most American’s agree that the Second Amendment does allow law-abiding citizens to own guns for protection and hunting. Gun ownership ranks high among these political ideologies and to attempt to ban all guns would make these feelings even stronger. To make the case for upholding the widely perceived ‘right’ to bear arms by allowing rifles and shotguns of a certain length while banning handguns seems the sensible solution and a fight that could be won. This tact has proven effective in other countries such as Britain and many other European nations. Those countries that ban handgun use have a much lower homicide rate than does the U.S. (Reynolds, Caruth, 1992) In the year 2002, more than 3000 American children died as a result of guns, mostly handguns. Compare this with Britain where 19 children were killed by guns in 2005 and Japan where none were killed. Both if these countries have enacted strict gun control laws. The children of America are dying every day so that those who insist they have a right to own an arsenal of weapons and misconstrue the Constitution to justify this desire. (â€Å"Statistics† 2005). Gun enthusiasts mimic the concept that more guns will lead to less violence, that if everyone were carrying a gun, criminals would be too scared to commit crimes. The more is less philosophy. This doesn’t square with reasonable logic or the facts.

Analysis from walden Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis from walden - Essay Example The moment we try to intrude our being’s reality and disrupt the ways of nature is the time when we fail ourselves and become unhappy. The chosen text â€Å"From Walden† by Henry David Thoreau has indeed brought up many interesting insights about life and nature and how both can perfectly co-exist to benefit each other. One of Thoreau’s ideas that totally capture a genius thought we could all make use of today would be how doctors would usually recommend the sick whose situation seems to not get better to change his or her surroundings. Though a happier and a more positive environment can uplift us, more importantly, it is better that we learn how to change our mindset and attitude towards something rather than to change the landscape we are in. As he says, â€Å"the universe is wider than our views of it† (Thoreau's Walden, Chapter 2. n,d.). It is us who needs to change ourselves as it is the only thing we can transform and not nature or destiny. Here, he directly states his point by highlighting a common reaction of human beings to problems which is a very effective tool for him to bend the knee-jerk thinking of people that the key to happiness is when situations we deem unnecessary or troublesome is not a part of life’s equation. â€Å"It is not worth the while to go round the world to count the cats in Zanzibar† is another strong line he used to back this up (Thoreau's Walden, Chapter 2. n,d.). ... Indeed, media has its way of making travel and tours play a big part in one’s life especially with the complexity of the real world everyone wants to get away from. However, it is wise to know that even after you have travelled to the most beautiful place in the world, you will still go back to the same problems you had. Indeed, a life-transforming travel does not have to involve one leaving home, instead is a constancy of being at peace with one’s soul. Another strong quote I came across the text would be â€Å"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived† (Thoreau's Walden, Chapter 2. n,d.). Here, he is trying to convey the significance of each person being able to find his or her own meaning of life. Thoreau teaches us that aside from focusing on being able to provide for our daily needs such as food, shelter, and clothing, which a lot of people today has been blinded of, focusing too much on work and succeeding to gain more, it is wise that we also take time to evaluate the quality of life that we now have. However, he emphasizes that inner fulfillment which should be the main goal for everyone can only be judged by each person to himself and no one else. â€Å"From Walden† by Henry David Thoreau is indeed a literary piece that talks about the realities of life and how to soar high while you’re at it instead of falling rock hard down. He used nature literally to explain how the world and humans are made by God and how we cannot do anything to change the fact that none of both are perfect. No matter what background or era one is born in, we all are going to go through troubles in one

Rap music often carries important messages Essay

Rap music often carries important messages - Essay Example The song also mentions of suffering of children caught in between wars, high youth mortality, government and media deception and greed. Another popular rap song is "Runaway Love" by Ludacris featuring Mary J. Blige. The song is about the plight of young girls of age 9, 10 and 11. One is defiled by her mother’s prostitution client, the other loses her only friend in a shot out and the last one get pregnant at 11. These girls opt to run away from home which they compare with hell. This song end by giving encouragement to the girls that they are not alone. It exposes the suffering of the girl child from the ghetto through rap. Rap songs often carry important information even though they are highly associated with â€Å"thug† life. The song titled â€Å"Where is the Love† by Black Eyed Peas advocates for love in the society and addresses several socio-economic problems. â€Å"Runaway Love† by Ludacris featuring Mary J. Blige brings out the plight of the girl child living in low income areas. Therefore, rap songs should not be generally judged as upholding criminality since they often carry important

Mark Twain Short Stories Essay Essay Example for Free

Mark Twain Short Stories Essay Essay Mark Twain has composed a myriad of short stories over a long period of time. Twain writes with the passion to charm and amuse the reader. Every single sentence he writes makes one want to keep reading on to see what happens next. His stories also offer a comment on human nature and Twain often questions conventional wisdom. Just because someone’s life did not attach to with what many people see normal, Twain seems to be asking if that makes them lucky when they don’t fail. He responds to that question and challenges the reader to think twice in his short stories. Mark Twain’s stories seem to never be lacking hilariousness. In Luck, for example, he brings out the subject, Lieutenant-General Lord Arthur Scoresby, as a dignified and decorated soldier but then makes a quick turn by quoting the town Reverend saying, â€Å"Privately – he’s an absolute fool† (Twain 265). This blunt change allows Twain the chance to recount the tale told by the Reverend concerning Scoresby’s many failures in battle. Additionally, he sets up the reader in The Story of the Bad Little Boy by painting a dreary picture as to what could happen to the main character. Twain then excitedly breaks the ice with an amusing reveal of what actually happened. Twain writes, â€Å"Is it right to disobey my mother? Isn’t it sinful to do this? Where do bad little boys go who gobble up their good kind mother’s jam?† and then he didn’t kneel down all alone and promise to never to be wicked any more, no that is the way with all other bad boys in the books†¦ He ate that jam, and said it was bully; and he put in the tar, and said that was bully, also, and laughed, and observed that the old woman would get up and snort† (11). This process of creating a sullen circumstance and then flamboyantly reversing course is depicted in most of Twain’s stories and was used to have a great effect. Mark Twain used humor to thrill the reader, which he did effectively and consistently, but he also used it make a clear point. The most frequent point he was trying to make was that society is too uptight. In The Story of the Bad Little Boy, he underlines a wide range of â€Å"bad† things that the main character does but wraps it up that it had little bearing on him when he became a man. Twain writes, â€Å"And he grew up and married, and raised a large family, and brained them all with an ax one night, and got wealthy by all manner of cheating and rascality; and now he is the infernalest wickedest  scoundrel in his native village, and is universally respected, and belongs to the legislature† (13). This was Twain’s way of getting at the notion that a naughty child will always be a bad person. He does this again in Science vs. Luck in which he pokes fun at the over-the-top laws against gambling and games of chance. Twain does this through the main character, a nifty attorney, who argues that the game of seven-up is actually a game of science rather than chance so should not be considered gambling. Twain writes, â€Å"We, the jury in the case do hereby unanimously decide that the game commonly known as old sledge or seven-up is eminently a game of science and not chance†¦ In demonstration where of it is hereby and herein stated, iterated, reiterated, set forth and made manifest that, during the entire night, the â€Å"chance† men never won a game† (73). By using humor to sink in the message, Twain was able to poke fun at the conservative folks that ruled his day, and ours. Conservative thinking includes the presumption that people who succeed while acting in an unconventional manner must be lucky. Twain also poked fun at that thinking as well. The hero in Luck, Lieutenant-General Lord Arthur Scoresby, was privately thought to be a fool and the luckiest man on earth to survive in the military for decades. Twain then brings up nearly a dozen events in which Scoresby went against conventional wisdom and managed to live, leaving the reader to wonder the question, â€Å"Was it really luck or was Scoresby just good at what he did?† He also attains a familiar and similar goal in The Story of the Bad Little Boy in which the main character survives many near-fatal events to become a pillar of society. Twain seems to ask, â€Å"Was the boy really lucky to survive his childhood or was society too uptight?† Finally, in Science vs. Luck, Twain points out that games of â€Å"chance† are nothing more than complicated science or math problems. Once again, Twain intrigues the reader to consider whether the conservative view is the one and only view. Mark Twain wrote short stories with strong intent. He had a critical yet comical perspective that allowed him to see the humor in serious matters. Twain wrote about them in a way that was entertaining while also serving to share his perspective on his literature. For those readers who took themselves too seriously, they probably only saw the humor part. To those who chose to read between the lines laughed, but also probably stopped to reflect on the message. In his unique way, Mark Twain may have changed the course of human nature and society with his writings. Works Cited Twain, Mark. The Complete Short Stories. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Print.