Differences that are considered right and wrong. At this age he or she should know…
In "Dispensing Morality" (2005), Ellen Goodman asserts that she wants people to have strong moral grounds ("To each his own conscience...") but they have to understand other people’s moral grounds and priorities and not meddle into other people’s personal lives ("But the drugstore is not an altar. The last time I looked, the pharmacist’s license did not include the right to dispense morality."). Goodman illuminates how conscience clauses starts to increasingly empower and gives people opportunities to make choices based on their moral beliefs to the point of inconveniencing people; It starts with laws of exempting doctors in 47 states who don’t perform abortions which the author believes is fair as “Doctors are not automatons who leaves their…
Morality is not a virtue that many can tolerate without a conscience. It was considered the critical awareness of humanity's standards of conduct that are accepted as proper. Yet, for Scout, morality becomes not only a principle, but also a necessity in order for her to survive in the prejudiced society of Maycomb County. It is solely the essence of ethics that causes her to frown upon the injustices brought about by intolerance. Thus, Scout's maturity towards understanding the vitality of morality allows her to become a noble individual in an unjust social order.…
pg. 734, para 3 (con’t): Religion’s demand for morality and being good trumps a person’s…
People are extremely motivated by self-interest, even as societies have evolved and grown larger. While the more intertwined societies did lead to a greater need for cooperation in order to live as peacefully as possible, the need to follow the rules of that society can still be ignored when self-interests are present. The need to live by a set of moral rules is well explained by connecting God and morality. As God holds a person accountable, following the moral rules is now is that person’s interest. So even while the person may act according to society, the actions are still explained by the incentives and sanctions placed by God with the promise of Heaven and the threat of Hell, respectively. However, the Divine Command Theory falls short by basing morality solely on God’s commands. Morality then seems subject to God’s whims, which makes morality arbitrary. The opposing view counters strongly with the existence of morals within atheists. For if morals are based only on God’s will, then atheists must be godless brutes lacking any semblance to a moral compass. The morality of atheists is clearly evident, yet the argument failed to establish a reason for morals other acknowledging damage done to the…
right to steal in order to save a human life. On the one hand, some argue that stealing even if…
In the article Becoming an Atheist in America: Constructing Identity and Meaning from the Rejection of Theism by Jesse M. Smith, he found out that, at least in America, every Atheist that he interviewed came from a religious background, so it will be logical to think that some of that education remains in them and that is something that, both, Theists and Non-Theists have in common in this country. The idea that Atheist are bad people it doesn’t make much sense to me. If a Cristian live his entire life doing bad things, but at the end he repents, he would be accepted in Heaven. Atheist we don’t believe in Heaven or eternal live, so the time for doing good or bad is now. At the end there is not going to be repent, but only regret if a life was lived doing bad. I’m not saying that there are not bad people that are Atheists, the same that there are bad people that are Christians. I’m saying that being good or bad has nothing to do with your religious…
The origins of morality and what is defined as "good" or "bad", "unethical" or "moral" can easily boggle the mind. It is a topic that can be debated almost endlessly. There are many factors that must be taken into consideration to provide valid philosophies; yet there will still always be debatable elements. Two concepts of morality that are in direct opposition of each other are moral objectivism and moral relativism. Moral relativism can be subjective, in which morals are particular an individuals own beliefs; or, they can be conventional, in which morals are specific to a society and vary from culture to culture. On the other hand, moral objectivism does not leave room for opinions; it reasons that moral judgments are either true or false absolutely. These conflicting views create much cause for deliberation.…
In Plato’s Republic, Plato challenges the question of what defines morality. Morality is a subject that delineates Ayn Rand’s notion of the “sense of life.” Rand elucidates, “You have no choice about the necessity to integrate your observations, your knowledge into abstract ideas, ie., into principles (Thomas, p. 1).” It is explained in the article by William Thomas that a sense of life is something that all humans have. A sense of morality is also something that all humans have within them (we like to hope). Morality or lack there of, determines how one responds emotionally and physically to outside forces. It affects decision-making and the sense of life. Although Rand explains that the “the sense of life” is subconscious, it is also important to remember that one’s sense of life is developed from an early age and not without rearing from environmental factors, such as education, and parental guidance.…
That people knowingly and willingly commit evil acts. For non-believers the problem of evil presents a social, ethical and moral problem. If we accept that evil is a part of the human condition, and arises out of greed and self, to what extent should we value another person who has the capacity for such extreme evils. It becomes a large concern for atheists because how do they know others will not act out on them in an evil manor. If there is no God and our actions in this life have no consequence, then what need is there to act good and avoid evil. If people believe that there actions have no consequence they may feel free to roam around doing whatever they please, disregarding others well being. The problem for atheists is that without religion the problem of evil would be far worse. Religion plays an important role in controlling society and controlling our actions. For the non-believer trying to distinguish between evil and good is difficult if a list of rules have not been imposed by your religion. But even for none-believers there is a still a set of laws that deter them from committing evil acts. The Judicial system imposes lengthy prison time for what the country deems as an evil act. But even the judicial system takes a lot of its laws from religion. If religion did not exist society would not be as morally good as it is now, the judicial system that is a creation of a developed society would not be the same, our perception of evil and good would also be different. Earlier we explained that Hobbes thought we were all selfish creatures, only trying to better our position.x Without religion what would stop are evil impulses from being the dominant choice. Religion is not just as Marx said, “the opium of the masses”,xi but it is also the suppression of the masses. it commands people to act in a good way for fear of eternal damnation. The…
To many individuals, morality and religion are two related but distinct ideas. To be specific, morality consists of principles set by societal norms concerning the distinction between right and wrong and good and bad behaviour among persons. Alternatively, religion involves the relationship between human beings and a transcendent reality or a superhuman controlling power, God. In many societies in the past and present, the idea of God is used to help reinforce moral codes as valuable and vital through rituals and methods of presenting the teachings of God. By many, religion is used to instil fear in others who do not act or behave moral. Consequently, using fear as a potent tool, people begin to act moral because they believe that if they do not, social chaos will fall upon them, as there will be nothing left to govern society. In contradiction, some people, usually Atheist, find the concept of faith as comical when they question the existence of God. Through the examination of the books, The Evolution of Morality and Religion and The Two Sources of Morality and Religion along with various web sources, it is apparent that religion is a reinforcement for morality as it is conditioned into humans since birth, it is how people choose to integrate their religious beliefs into reality and it acts as a contributing factor in our daily survival in today’s civilization.…
Atheists believe that values, including morality, come from people like themselves; the values and morality are the same whether one believes in gods or not. The moralities found in scriptures of various religions are remarkably similar, even if the theology is very different. The common threads of morality in these different theologies are the people who wrote them. Atheists, just like any of those people, share the same sense of morality. The morality of atheists is in a sense more noble by definition than the morality of theists. While theists believe that god will punish them for immoral acts and reward them for moral acts, atheists have no motivation to be moral other than their own innate sense of morality. It is morality for its own sake, not out of fear for punishment or desire for reward.…
Except for the sadomasochistic among us, childhood lessons in the Golden Rule may serve as well as fables about God handing Moses a tablet of commandments in establishing acceptable behavior. (In fact, sadomasochists are apt to feel more at home with religion given its occasional habits of authoritarianism and self-flagellation.) Nor does atheism encourage hedonism. The conviction that there is no cosmic justice can fuel a commitment to the cause of earthly justice. Atheism denies you the luxury of believing that the wrongs of this world…
In this paper, I will argue that Mill’s theory of morality does not withstand the philosophical reasoning; therefore, making his theory invalid. I will do so by first stating a brief synopsis of Mill’s theory and then provide two objections that go against his approach. Once I have given the two objections, I will discuss the response Mill gives for each of these objections. Finally, I will give a critical evaluation of Mill’s theory of Utilitarianism as well as give supporting evidence as to why Mill’s approach is philosophically sound.…
While atheists do not believe in the existence of a God, they do believe that the happiness or unhappiness produced by an action determines its morality. I find that this belief goes along with that of someone who believes in a God, they just go about it in a different way. Most religions teach that if you do something bad it is immoral and against Gods teachings, while the atheist are still against committing immoral acts even though they do not fear Gods wrath. I find this to be fascinating. How do they comprehend what is good or evil if they do not believe in a higher being? I believe that we are made in Gods image, and he instills in us the ability to know when we do something wrong, and this is where guilt comes from. The atheists have stated that they don’t believe in committing immoral acts, but how do they know the acts are immoral if God hasn’t told them so? This is just another reason why I believe in the cosmological argument. The cosmological argument gives scientific evidence that there is a higher being and this gives me a solid foundation of beliefs for why there is a God and why we as humans behave the way we do. Atheists have no explanation as to why we are here and no foundation of beliefs that can reasonably explain our purpose as to being on earth. We are not here just to be here, we have a purpose. God has put…