This paper addresses the problem of framing effects for moral intuitionalism posed by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong in his controversial article “Framing Moral Intuitions”. In his article, Sinnott-Armstrong attempts to reject moral intuitionalism by questioning the reliability of our moral intuitions on the basis that they are subject to framing effects, citing several studies to support his position. However, critics such as William Tolhurst and Russ Landau-Schaefer argue that these studies are neither adequate nor sufficient for Sinnott-Armstrong justified his claim. In this article, I will address the main areas of contention in this debate and propose a solution that may be able to reconcile Sinnott-Armstrong and his interlocutors.…
Differences that are considered right and wrong. At this age he or she should know…
| |[pic] |[pic]B)[pic|Virtue ethics is a moral theory that focuses mainly on one's intentions. |…
The song lyrics above are from the soundtrack of the film Menace II Society and correspond directly to the hardships that people are given when growing up in the ghetto and when surrounded by a life of violence. Because they know nothing other than this aggressive and brutal way of life, they continue this violent cycle and rarely break away to begin a new way of life. Twin brothers Albert and Allen Hughes direct the film. The Hughes began making movies at age 12, but their formal film education began their freshman year of high school when Allen took a TV production class. They soon made a short film entitled How To Be A Burglar and people began to take notice. Their next work, Uncensored Videos, was broadcast on cable, introducing them to a wider audience. After high school, Albert began taking classes at the Los Angeles Community College Film School. Two short films established the twins' reputation as innovative filmmakers and allowed them to direct Menace II Society (1993), which made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and grossed nearly 10 times as much as its $3 million budget. After following up with Dead Presidents (1995) they directed the feature-length documentary American Pimp (1999). From the very first scene, detailing Caine and O-Dog's fatal armed robbery of a Korean market, violence is cruelly graphic. "In this instance, the film succeeds in painting a disturbing picture of violence, one in which the characters' lack of remorse, rather than stylistic convention, shapes and colors the horror of the image." Although most of the violence is filmed realistically and unfolds in real time, the Hughes can't seem to resist…
Ethical objectivism is the idea that all individuals are correct within their own ideologies, if and only if they justly believe them to be truthful. This idea only applies when the individual has not been exposed with external foundations that prove the inexactness of their claim. Mackie debated that the importance of our moral views were the foundations of the existence of objective moral values within ourselves, meaning that whenever we make a moral judgement we assume that there is an element that makes our moral sentence factual. Mackie also argues that at any time we make these moral statements we enter what is called the error theory, which is the thought that all moral proposals cannot be correct. Mackie determined that error theory was the only plausible metaethical model because it embraces the foundations and possibilities of moral values, while focusing on what morality truly is.…
Thus to say that there are no objective values there should be no values that have intrinsic-reason giving power or motivate us unconditionally to act in a certain manner. For example an ethical statement like, “Love thy neighbor”, has neither an intrinsic-reason giving power, nor motivates us unconditionally to really love our neighbors. Here, in order to clarify, Mackie uses Immanuel Kant’s idea of hypothetical and categorical imperatives.…
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from the 18th century who is well known as an essential person in philosophy today. He has made the argument that there are a set of essential ideas that structure human experience and is the source of morality. His thought continues to have a major influence in contemporary thought, especially the fields of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics. Kant’s theory on morality as often been criticized on being too…
Being morally responsible is when a person decides whether his actions are right or wrong. And whether the person will be rewarded or punished for his actions. But Galen Strawson thinks that being morally responsible is impossible or in easy terms, the person is deterministic. There are different degrees of one being accountable for his or her actions, and what Strawson thinks is that being ultimately accountable is impossible. The Basic Argument that Strawson gives is that in order for a person to be morally responsible, one must be self-determining; but nothing is self-determining, by which he means that a person has no free-will to what he is doing. And hence he arrives at a conclusion, that no one can be morally responsible.…
Steinbeck’s motif of Lennie’s questionable ethics throughout Slim and George’s conversation establishes the theme that morality is a fluid and unclear concept.…
In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that everything a person does, whether it’s creating something, asking about something, deciding something, or doing an action, is done so in the pursuit of an end goal, or “to seek some good” (1094a2). For every action we take, there is a specific benefit, or good, that we hope to gain. For example, when you prepare food for yourself, you hope to satisfy your hunger or taste something good, and when you ask a question, you hope to receive an answer that makes the topic clearer. In addition, when doing a certain action in order to acquire the good or the end, that end that is being sought after may be for the sake of another good down the road, another good down the road and itself, or plainly for the sake of itself. Everything we do is done with the intent of achieving either of those three entities.…
In his speech, Professor Michael Sandel discussed both “consequentialist moral reasoning” and “categorical moral reasoning” (Harvard University, n.d.). Sandel states that “categorical moral reasoning” is when you “locate morality in certain duties and rights” (Harvard University, n.d.). And “consequentialist moral reasoning” is when you “locate morality from consequences of your actions” (Harvard University, n.d.). Basically, “categorical moral reasoning” focuses on the “consequences”, after “action” is taken, before you actually do something (Harvard University, n.d.). Then, there’s “consequentialist moral reasoning” focuses on what to do, and the “consequences” afterwards (Harvard University, n.d.).…
To be or not to be? Morality is something that leaves every human being with a concern with what's right or wrong. I think about my perception on the behavior that will follow my choices.…
“Martin Marietta ethics program was one facet of an effort to create and maintain a “do-it-right” climate at a time when the defense industry was facing serious attacks from the government and the public for fraud and mismanagement” (Paine, Choy, & Santoro, 2004, p. 2). During the 1980s, there was an increase in defense spending as allegations of contract fraud often made headlines. To protect itself, Martin Marietta in addition to 18 other defense organizations worked together to form Defense Industry Initiative on Business Ethics and Conduct. In 1991, Martin Marietta’s corporate office received 9,625 calls concerning corporate ethics with 572 of the reported cases recorded as alleged questionable behavior (Paine et al.,…
2. Philosophers do not believe that ethics require religious grounding, rather than relying on hold books or religious revelations, philosophical ethics uses reason and experience to determine what is good and bad, right and wrong, better and worse. In the philosophical tale Euthyphro by Socrates, he examines the religious view, and asks whether things are good because they are approved by the gods, or whether the gods approve of them because they are good. Socrates states that god could decree anything to be good or bad. One implication of this view is that mortality has a certain independence, and if that is the truth, we should be able to determine whether certain actions are right or wrong in themselves and for some reason. Mackinnon though, concludes with three hypothesis’s of her own, why we should separate religion and ethics. She believes that we should be able to develop our own natural moral reasoning skills, we should be able to evaluate critically our own or other views of what is taught to be good or bad or just and unjust, including religious views in some cases. Second, Mackinnon believes that believers of…
How might someone set their own morals? Morality is the system through which we determine right and wrong, the guide to good or right conduct. If someone witnesses something that they deem wrong, they set morals so they can assure themselves that they will never be like the wrongdoer.…