Question.1909 - CHAPTER 9 1. How do you explain the fact that morally evil people can be highly educated in terms of ethics and religion? In other words, how do you account for the gap that sometimes occurs between knowledge of ethics and being an ethical person? 2. Imagine for a moment that you were teaching a course in ethics. What would be your major goals for the course? Which concepts would you include and exclude, and why? Besides basing your decision on your students' grades, how would you determine whether students successfully mastered the course content? 3. As Socrates noted, "Virtue is its own reward" contains a substantial measure of truth. What are some of the implications of this saying? 4. To achieve an enlightened moral existence in your own life, you need to choose to be a moral person. You gain true power when you possess the unfettered and unrestrained ability to choose freely. Can both of these statements be correct? Why or why not? 5. Parents, teachers, religious leaders, and other authority figures have sought to inculcate values in your thinking, but friends, acquaintances, and colleagues do as well. And in many cases they have undoubtedly been successful. All this input can result in a confusing patchwork of conflicting beliefs. What are some ways people can create a moral compass that is accurate and enlightened and will confidently guide their moral decisions? CHAPTER 10 1. Imagine that you have been asked by the president to prepare a position paper on human cloning that can be used to shape the government's policy. Construct an extended argument regarding human cloning. 2. Many people support the argument that global warming is at least in part caused by humans. What are some reasons for this argument? Evaluate whether the reasons support the conclusion. 3. In modern American society, the legalization of marijuana continues to be controversial and hotly debated. Some people find it contradictory that certain "drugs"—such as tobacco and alcohol—are legalized even though they pose proven health risks, while marijuana, which has many medicinal applications, continues to be illegal by the federal government. What reasons do you think the federal government gives for outlawing marijuana, and do the reasons support the conclusion? 4. Our language provides guidance for identifying reasons and conclusions. Certain key words, kn own as cue wo rds, signal that a reason is being offered in support of a conclusion or that a conclusion is being asserted. Why do you think it is imperative for us to use cue words? 5. The art of politics is the art of persuasive speaking. If politicians are using a proper form of deductive argument in order to make their points, why is it that Democrats and Republicans can be arguing the same point and yet come to different conclusions?
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Chapter 9 1. How do you explain the fact that morally evil people can be highly educated in terms of ethics and religion? In other words, how do you account for the gap that sometimes occurs between knowledge of ethics and being an ethical person? The statement reinstates that morality cannot be learned. A person might be knowledgeable about what morality or the right ethical values are, yet might not indulge in moral actions. The act of being an ethical person rests solely on the intentions of the person choosing to indulge in moral activities. The morality of a person depends on their social interactions which forms a moral judgement as they learn what is a right way to act ethically. Thus, a person might not be knowledgeable about ethics, yet imbibes ethical values based on the people they interact on a daily basis. For instance, a highly educated person might be aware of the morality and ethical values but still indulge in illegal activities if he or she has been brought up in a social setting where committing crime is seen as normal. Thus, the upbringing or the nature of a person highly determines whether a person becomes an ethical person or not and is not dependent whether he has the knowledge about ethics and morals. 3. As Socrates noted, "Virtue is its own reward" contains a substantial measure of truth. What are some of the implications of this saying? The statement of Socrates implies that it is enough for one to know that he has done the virtuous thing and does not need to be rewarded to be compensated. A person who has done the right thing must be content and have the mental peace as their reward and need not be given any other prize for the virtuous deed accomplished. The statement has implication on the hopes and expectations of the doer and suggests that a person should invest in good deeds without any expectation of any reward. The virtuous deed is in itself worthy of accomplishment and does not necessarily have to be accompanied by any incentive of performing it. Thus, the statement implies that a person should not do any good deed with any expectation of a return, either in materialistic or intangible form and instead should be content that he did the right thing. By doing the virtuous thing, a person has acted supremely in an ethical manner and does not need any other rewards to validate the same. However, the statement also has some implication based on the maturity level of the doer. For instance, a mature and adult person can be made understood that a virtuous deed in itself is a reward and does not be given a reward to motivate the doer to repeat the same again. However, when a child commits a virtuous deed then he or she must be rewarded so as to ensure that the child understands that he or she did the right thing and the same should be repeated. Similar to the instance when he is punished for any wrong thing done so as to give a lesson that such action is undesirable. Thus, based on the age and maturity level of a person the virtuous deed must be rewarded or not. 5. Parents, teachers, religious leaders, and other authority figures have sought to inculcate values in your thinking, but friends, acquaintances, and colleagues do as well. And in many cases they have undoubtedly been successful. All this input can result in a confusing patchwork of conflicting beliefs. What are some ways people can create a moral compass that is accurate and enlightened and will confidently guide their moral decisions? For me morality consists of acting true to my conscience and refrain from indulging in activities that my inner self does not permit. Additionally, I would create a moral compass by acting honestly and refrain from hurting anyone’s sentiments. A moral action is one that does not harm anyone in any way. By hurting someone’s sentiments I am acting unethically and this would be against my conscience. Furthermore, while I would be conscious of not harming anyone I would also be concerned about my happiness as I my priority is also in keeping my soul happy. Chapter 10 Imagine that you have been asked by the president to prepare a position paper on human cloning that can be used to shape the government's policy. Construct an extended argument regarding human cloning. Human cloning could prove to be a revolution in the history of mankind. It has numerous benefits for human civilization as it can resolve fertility issues, beneficial for genetic diseases and even decrease the problem of socioeconomic equality. Cloning creates a genetic replica of a living being. Through human cloning, a childless couple can fulfil their dream of having a child that is genetically their own (Singh, 2004). Thus, human cloning could be the reason for happiness for many couples who are facing fertility issues. Furthermore, through cloning the medical science can create new opportunities. By creating a replica of an organism, the researchers will be able to share new genetic material that will enable to avoid or cure diseases that can have adverse implications of the organism’s health (Strong, 2005). 2. Many people support the argument that global warming is at least in part caused by humans. What are some reasons for this argument? Evaluate whether the reasons support the conclusion. Global warming is the gradual increase in the average temperature of earth. While global warming is a natural phenomenon, the recent rise in the average temperature of Earth can be blamed on human induced activities. Post industrialisation, there has been massive use of fossil fuel for daily human consumption that has led to the increase in pollution in the atmosphere. The hazardous gases suspended in the air are largely to be blamed for the increase in the temperature of Earth. The industrial activities have released lot of hazardous gases to the capacity of 900 billion tons of carbon dioxide, out of which around 450 are still present in the atmosphere. Furthermore, around 80 percent of carbon dioxide released in the Earth’s atmosphere is largely from various factories and manufacturing units while the rest is from deforestation activities for human settlements. As per a study by Stephenson, Newman and Mayhew (2010), the consumption of fossil fuels due to industrialisation has les to an increase of 0.75°C in the global temperatures and 22 cm rise in sea level in the last century. IPCC has estimated that if the consumption of fossil fuels are not checked then the rise in the average temperature of the planet would rise by 1.1–6.4°C by the end of this century. 3. In modern American society, the legalization of marijuana continues to be controversial and hotly debated. Some people find it contradictory that certain "drugs"—such as tobacco and alcohol—are legalized even though they pose proven health risks, while marijuana, which has many medicinal applications, continues to be illegal by the federal government. What reasons do you think the federal government gives for outlawing marijuana, and do the reasons support the conclusion? A major reason for not legalising marijuana in America is its adverse impact on adolescents. The federal government is worried that making marijuana legal will have more drastic impact on the adolescent population than its therapeutic benefits to those suffering from various ailments. Legalising marijuana will lead to easy access for adolescents who are largely vulnerable to substance abuse. Furthermore, they are also worried about the crime rising from the substance abuse and intoxicated driving, which is already a worse case in American society. Driving under the influence of substance is an offense in America and one can get arrested for the same. The federal government is concerned that allowing marijuana will prove to be a menace for the society as marijuana breathalysers are still in development stage and not ready for use by the law enforcement departments. References Singh D. (2004). Human cloning is justified in preventing genetic disease. BMJ : British Medical Journal, 328(7438), 484. Stephenson, J., Newman, K. and Mayhew, S. (2010). Population dynamics and climate change: what are the links?. Journal of Public Health, 32(2), pp.150-156. Strong, C. (2005). Reproductive cloning combined with genetic modification. Journal of Medical Ethics, 31(11), 654-658.More Articles From Psychology
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