Nt1310 Unit 1 Assignment
UNIT 1 ASSIGNMENT
Unit 1 Assignment
Brandon Mayhall
Kaplan University
August 3, 2013
Abstract In this paper I will be discussing which theory represents my personal beliefs in depth, describe the theory in depth, and I will also add how this theory is used within my society. I will also describe the misconceptions and confusion related applying society’s guidelines and how it has affected by technology.
Part 1 Devine Command Theory is a theory that makes morality dependently solely on the individuals god and god’s word or teaching establishes a moral obligation to the god’s followers. The morality is determined by the character of the god and his command and this morality is the right action to be taken as required. These morality guidelines can vary depending of the specific religion that …show more content…
an individual believes in. However, all types of religions are similar because they all set guidelines or morals for their followers to follow. According to Edward Wierenga, Devine Command Theory involves god determining what is to be considered moral, moral requirements are established from god’s commands, and that god’s commands are to be understood within statements (Wierenga, 1989).
Advantages
With the Devine Command Theory, morality needs the followers to obtain a faith in their god and to believe in some type of afterlife. Therefore, we have to believe in our god because the requirements of morality are too much for us to deal with by ourselves. In order to satisfy the demands of moral law we need to believe that our god will help us. While we participate in our religion we strive to live moral lives. According to Immanuel Kant, “there is not the slightest ground in the moral law for a necessary connection between the morality and proportionate h Happiness of being who belongs to the world as one of its parts an id thus dependent on it. However, when a people enter the afterlife this problem does not exist anymore. Therefore, conducting yourself in a moral manner will not guarantee that you will be happy but your faith in your god will provide with a life full of happiness (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006). Another advantage for divine command theory is that it establishes foundation for a society’s mortality. It makes it very clear that people who commit evil acts will be punished for their actions. However, people who live their lives by obeying these commands will reap the reward upon returning to the heavens. The idea that good prevails over evil and justice will be served is a good way at looking at this theory, which makes us react to situations that could possibly conflict with our self-interest. God also makes it clear that those who sacrifice their own well-being for the well-being of their children, friends, or strangers will be greatly rewarded and is part of his commands. The moral values that god establishes among his followers includes that you should have no other god before me, you should not use the lord’s name in vain, on the seventh day you shall not work and use this day to worship the lord, honor your father and mother, you should not kill, you should not steal, you should not bear a false witness against your neighbor, you should not desire your neighbor’s house, you should not desire your neighbor’s wife, or any that belongs to your neighbor. There are exceptions to religious beliefs due to social issues that occur within the society. For example, there are religions that do not allow for the followers to use contraception such as birth control, condoms, and the morning after pill. In recent years across the world there has been an epidemic with many people getting the HIV asexually transmitted disease. In order to combat this epidemic, many religions have allowed their followers to use condoms to prevent them from catching the disease causing a more wide spread epidemic (Pope Approves Use of Condoms in Fight against Aids, 2010). This theory has been a big part of my life throughout my childhood when my mother would take me to church in order to learn the word of god and is also why I am doing the same for my children. It is important for children to learn right from wrong at an early age but it helps me to understand that there are greater consequences beyond what a man can give another man or woman. Some people have changed their moral value even when that do not align with gods commands as they believe that some of the commands are out of date. For example, the amounts of homosexual individuals are increasing across the world to come out and believe that all the churches should accept it. I personally do not have disapproval of this but I am not the one that will stand over them on their final day of judgment therefore, I feel that the churches should decide for themselves if they will accept them and let god determine if they should stay with him in have. Another problem with the Devine theory is the wars between men have been going on for centuries that are center around religion. The gods of all religions detail how we should love one another and look after each other for protection but instead some people will translate their god’s word for the purpose of destruction.
Part 2 In today’s age of technology it is becoming very important for us to gain some knowledge on the role of technology and its moral responsibility. Technology has processes that are making decisions using automation techniques, establishing new methods for individuals to communicate and interact with one another therefore there is a need to understand the moral responsibility when using technology. In order know our moral obligation we need to examine some information that could include who is held responsible if records of electronic information disappear or involve having errors within the information, identifying the exact person or group who published the information onto the internet, how long of duration and how the creator of information technology system is held responsible for his or her products that is acceptable to consequences, and there should also be time used to explore if your system should convert to an automotive approach or technique or should an organization within a particular field still involve a human interaction where the human is responsible for that behavior (Noorman, 2012). There are a few misconceptions that are involved when computing on the information highway while maintain a moral obligation that are worth exploring.
The first misconception is that responsibility only occurs while blaming an individual or group when something wrong takes place. Computer system developers uses a specific malpractice model that determines who is responsible and held accountable when something does not go accordingly as planned, which leads to different kinds of excuses in order decrease the amount of those held responsible. In this instance, the distance from the technology created and the developer or developers that created them would be used in this model in order to determine casual or direct connection between a specific manufacture and developer. Another misconception is that using an information technology system involves a natural ethical practice, which means that some people believe that technology systems and processes in building the system are naturally ethical and is utilized in the justification for developing a specific computer system while not considering looking at how these technology operate as a whole (Gotterbarn,
2001).
References
Austin, Michael W. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy . Ed. Michael W. Austin W. Austin. Eastern Kentucky University, 21 Aug. 2006. Web. 5 Aug. 2013. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/divine-c/>.
Gotterbarn D.. 2001. “Informatics and professional responsibility,” Science and Engineering Ethics, 7(2): 221–230.
Noorman, Merel, "Computing and Moral Responsibility", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/computing-responsibility/>.
Wierenga, Edward R. The Nature of God. N.p.: Cornell University, 1989. Print.
Wynne-Jones, Jonathan. Pope approves use of condoms in fight against Aids. The Telegraph, 20 Nov. 2010. Web. 5 Aug. 2013. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/8148899/Pope-approves-use-of-condoms-in-fight-against-Aids.html>.
Unit 1 Assignment
Brandon Mayhall
Kaplan University
August 3, 2013
Abstract In this paper I will be discussing which theory represents my personal beliefs in depth, describe the theory in depth, and I will also add how this theory is used within my society. I will also describe the misconceptions and confusion related applying society’s guidelines and how it has affected by technology.
Part 1 Devine Command Theory is a theory that makes morality dependently solely on the individuals god and god’s word or teaching establishes a moral obligation to the god’s followers. The morality is determined by the character of the god and his command and this morality is the right action to be taken as required. These morality guidelines can vary depending of the specific religion that …show more content…
an individual believes in. However, all types of religions are similar because they all set guidelines or morals for their followers to follow. According to Edward Wierenga, Devine Command Theory involves god determining what is to be considered moral, moral requirements are established from god’s commands, and that god’s commands are to be understood within statements (Wierenga, 1989).
Advantages
With the Devine Command Theory, morality needs the followers to obtain a faith in their god and to believe in some type of afterlife. Therefore, we have to believe in our god because the requirements of morality are too much for us to deal with by ourselves. In order to satisfy the demands of moral law we need to believe that our god will help us. While we participate in our religion we strive to live moral lives. According to Immanuel Kant, “there is not the slightest ground in the moral law for a necessary connection between the morality and proportionate h Happiness of being who belongs to the world as one of its parts an id thus dependent on it. However, when a people enter the afterlife this problem does not exist anymore. Therefore, conducting yourself in a moral manner will not guarantee that you will be happy but your faith in your god will provide with a life full of happiness (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006). Another advantage for divine command theory is that it establishes foundation for a society’s mortality. It makes it very clear that people who commit evil acts will be punished for their actions. However, people who live their lives by obeying these commands will reap the reward upon returning to the heavens. The idea that good prevails over evil and justice will be served is a good way at looking at this theory, which makes us react to situations that could possibly conflict with our self-interest. God also makes it clear that those who sacrifice their own well-being for the well-being of their children, friends, or strangers will be greatly rewarded and is part of his commands. The moral values that god establishes among his followers includes that you should have no other god before me, you should not use the lord’s name in vain, on the seventh day you shall not work and use this day to worship the lord, honor your father and mother, you should not kill, you should not steal, you should not bear a false witness against your neighbor, you should not desire your neighbor’s house, you should not desire your neighbor’s wife, or any that belongs to your neighbor. There are exceptions to religious beliefs due to social issues that occur within the society. For example, there are religions that do not allow for the followers to use contraception such as birth control, condoms, and the morning after pill. In recent years across the world there has been an epidemic with many people getting the HIV asexually transmitted disease. In order to combat this epidemic, many religions have allowed their followers to use condoms to prevent them from catching the disease causing a more wide spread epidemic (Pope Approves Use of Condoms in Fight against Aids, 2010). This theory has been a big part of my life throughout my childhood when my mother would take me to church in order to learn the word of god and is also why I am doing the same for my children. It is important for children to learn right from wrong at an early age but it helps me to understand that there are greater consequences beyond what a man can give another man or woman. Some people have changed their moral value even when that do not align with gods commands as they believe that some of the commands are out of date. For example, the amounts of homosexual individuals are increasing across the world to come out and believe that all the churches should accept it. I personally do not have disapproval of this but I am not the one that will stand over them on their final day of judgment therefore, I feel that the churches should decide for themselves if they will accept them and let god determine if they should stay with him in have. Another problem with the Devine theory is the wars between men have been going on for centuries that are center around religion. The gods of all religions detail how we should love one another and look after each other for protection but instead some people will translate their god’s word for the purpose of destruction.
Part 2 In today’s age of technology it is becoming very important for us to gain some knowledge on the role of technology and its moral responsibility. Technology has processes that are making decisions using automation techniques, establishing new methods for individuals to communicate and interact with one another therefore there is a need to understand the moral responsibility when using technology. In order know our moral obligation we need to examine some information that could include who is held responsible if records of electronic information disappear or involve having errors within the information, identifying the exact person or group who published the information onto the internet, how long of duration and how the creator of information technology system is held responsible for his or her products that is acceptable to consequences, and there should also be time used to explore if your system should convert to an automotive approach or technique or should an organization within a particular field still involve a human interaction where the human is responsible for that behavior (Noorman, 2012). There are a few misconceptions that are involved when computing on the information highway while maintain a moral obligation that are worth exploring.
The first misconception is that responsibility only occurs while blaming an individual or group when something wrong takes place. Computer system developers uses a specific malpractice model that determines who is responsible and held accountable when something does not go accordingly as planned, which leads to different kinds of excuses in order decrease the amount of those held responsible. In this instance, the distance from the technology created and the developer or developers that created them would be used in this model in order to determine casual or direct connection between a specific manufacture and developer. Another misconception is that using an information technology system involves a natural ethical practice, which means that some people believe that technology systems and processes in building the system are naturally ethical and is utilized in the justification for developing a specific computer system while not considering looking at how these technology operate as a whole (Gotterbarn,
2001).
References
Austin, Michael W. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy . Ed. Michael W. Austin W. Austin. Eastern Kentucky University, 21 Aug. 2006. Web. 5 Aug. 2013. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/divine-c/>.
Gotterbarn D.. 2001. “Informatics and professional responsibility,” Science and Engineering Ethics, 7(2): 221–230.
Noorman, Merel, "Computing and Moral Responsibility", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/computing-responsibility/>.
Wierenga, Edward R. The Nature of God. N.p.: Cornell University, 1989. Print.
Wynne-Jones, Jonathan. Pope approves use of condoms in fight against Aids. The Telegraph, 20 Nov. 2010. Web. 5 Aug. 2013. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/8148899/Pope-approves-use-of-condoms-in-fight-against-Aids.html>.