natural law
Discuss the approach of Natural Law to morality According to Jenkins, "The natural law theory begins with theories about the nature and purpose of the world and moves on to ask about the purpose of every action or object. The right thing to do is that which fulfils the natural purpose." Natural law was developed by Thomas Aquinas, in which he believed that there is such a thing as natural moral law. Natural law ethics depends on the belief that the world was designed by a creator, God. It teaches everything God made has a purpose, including every aspect of human life, and everything should work towards the purpose assigned to it. If we fulfil this purpose we do 'good', for example it is good to preserve life ("Do not kill"). If we frustrate the purpose for which something has been created then it is morally 'wrong', to destroy life is against the will of good. In addition, human sexuality was designed for the reproduction of the species. Any action which helps towards the fulfilment of this purpose is good; anything which hinders this fulfilment is bad. Aquinas believed there were four primary precepts, "God's aims for humans", which we are to follow to live according to natural law. These are to reproduce, learn and develop potential, live harmoniously in society and worship god. These precepts are moral absolutes and under no circumstances can be broken. Natural law is
Cosmological argument
Consider the view that the cosmological argument provides clear proof of the existence of God. (50 Marks) The Cosmological argument seeks to answer the question 'Why does anything exist?' It claims that this question is only answerable if God exists. There are many cosmological arguments; I will focus upon the Kalam argument, a deductive version of the cosmological argument and Richard Swinburne's inductive version of the cosmological argument. The Kalam argument states that everything that begins to exist has a cause. I began to exist so it is reasonable to ask what caused me to exist, I could answer and say that my parents caused me to exist however it still remains reasonable to ask what caused them to exist. We can continue this chain of questions until we arrive at what caused the universe? The Kalam argument states that if the universe came in to existence in the same way that I did then it too must have a cause as something cannot arise from nothing. Whatever caused the universe must have caused the universe without being caused itself. The Kalam argument arrives at the conclusion that only God could be the answer as God does not have a cause but is able to cause other things for instance the universe. Does everything really have a cause? Hume argues that we cannot know if every event has a cause as it is not an analytic truth, this also applies to the principle of
Ethics in Business
Ethics in Business Ethics and Human Resources Ethics commonly refer to the rules or principles that define right and wrong conduct. In the United States, many believe we are currently suffering from an ethics crisis (Ricklets, Robbins & Coulter, 1996). Behaviors that were once thought unacceptable -- lying, cheating, misrepresenting, and covering up mistakes -- have become in many people's eyes acceptable or necessary practices. Managers profit from illegal use of insider stock information and members of Congress write hundreds of bad checks. Even college students seem to have become caught up in the wave where studies show significant increases in cheating on tests (Robbins et al.). Concern over this perceived decline in ethical standards is being addressed by organizations, and companies are relying on Human Resource (HR) to build an ethical culture. Human Resource departments are creating codes of ethics, introducing ethics training programs and hiring ethics officers. Why is ethics important to Human Resources? When employees in organizations make decisions to act unethically, they affect not only the company itself, but also its shareholders, employees and customers. Employees make a myriad of choices every day in businesses -- if unethical, they can damage a company's productivity, profits and reputation. Unethical decisions can come in many forms: the employee who
Is it a simple matter to distinguish a scientific argument from a pseudo-scientific argument?
John 3/14/03 Block IV Is it a simple matter to distinguish a scientific argument from a pseudo-scientific argument? Mankind has always endeavored to understand the world and its surroundings, to know and understand how and why things happen. Through this, both science and pseudo-science was born. A pseudo-science is something that claims to be scientific, but really isn't. Some examples of pseudo-science include things like astrology, numerology, and other so-called "sciences". A science tries to explain how and why things happen by creating laws that dictate what nature does. The laws of a scientific argument are based upon the hypotheses of scientists. In order for a hypothesis to become a theory, it must be tested meticulously. The best way to prove it true is by proving it false. If the argument or hypothesis succeeds the test, then it is one step closer to being proven true. The more times it is proven true, the higher the probability of it being completely true. Inductively, after it has been proven true a number of times, it must be true. However, logically, it can never really be proven completely true, since it would take an infinite number of tests to do so. A pseudo-science argument is similar, in that it has laws. However, these laws are mostly restatements of known facts. For example, in astrology, they make claims about what you are like based on what day
Plato's allegory of the cave
Plato’s analogy of the cave The story of the cave has many meanings behind it; there is not just one moral to the story, but a variety of linked points are made to express Plato’s understanding of the progress of mind from its lowest stage to an enlightened knowledge of the good. In this story the escaped prisoner in the cave represents Socrates, a Greek philosopher. The allegory begins with a description of prisoners in a cave, who are only able to look straight ahead of themselves because they are chained. They have a fire behind them, a wall in front, and the cave has a long tunnel entrance so that there is no natural daylight in the cave, only the firelight. These prisoners in the cave are representing the Greeks; they have their beliefs and they do not want to turn their heads to listen to anyone else’s teachings that are different to theirs. In this allegory Plato illustrates the prisoners as souls and the cave as the human body thus suggesting the body is a kind of prison in which the soul is trapped. This concept suggests that the soul, like the prisoners, has been there since birth therefore showing that Plato believes the soul is immortal, this is backed up by the fact that despite the prisoner (Socrates) died, his ideas and teachings live on forever hence showing the soul is immortal. In the story the prisoner wants to escape the cave and go into the
Plato's Theory of Forms.
Plato's Theory of Forms. Plato, one of the greatest philosophers of all time, has had a profound effect on subsequent ages. He was born into an aristocratic Athenian family in about 428 BCE, and his are the earliest writings of philosophical findings that have been recorded. However Plato not only recorded his own findings, but those of his teacher, Socrates. Socrates, a man who was known by the Grecians to be a 'hornet', forever hovering around, standing up to things, questioning everything and generally being a busybody, was not seen like that in the eyes of Plato. Plato admired Socrates for his teachings, and of his Dialectic method, which was to question and answer everything to show up mortal ignorance, and get as close as possible to 'Real Knowledge'. However, Socrates never had chance to write down his experiences, he only taught by word of mouth, forever battling against the Sophists, in trying to prove that philosophy wasn't just a profession as they thought, but a way of life. Socrates career and life came to a bitter end in 399 BCE, when he was sentenced to death by poison with a charge of corrupting the young (namely young philosophers like Plato) and of introducing new Gods. Instead of leaving Athens forever or appealing for leniency, Socrates decided to give up his life in the name of philosophy and the search for truth. Even though the death of Socrates
To what extent is the omnipotence of God a logically coherent concept?
Bailey Bell To what extent is the omnipotence of God a logically coherent concept? (35) The concept of omnipotence and God is not easily understood; the term refers to the notion that God is all-powerful and supreme. For some this concept of God being omnipotent is logically coherent, but for others it is not. For instance, saying God is all-powerful suggests that God can do anything. But one scenario raised by Michael Dummett is can God change the past? Does it make sense to pray in the event that you receive news that a ship that your loved ones were on sank hours ago with few survivors? Could God change what happened or are your loved one already safe because God knew you’d pray. In this sense it is not a very coherent concept as we aren’t entirely clear of the extent of God’s omnipotence. Many that hold the view that God can do anything run into problems; if God can do everything, could he create a five sided triangle? If holding the view that God can do anything it would seem this is logical as God could change the definition of a triangle. But it seems illogical that God would have this sort of power to change the past, as it is contradictory. It could be argued that God’s omnipotence is not a logically coherent concept; humans have two arms and two legs to enable us to run but the other attributes of God contradict each other because if he is all powerful yes
Utilitarianism. Identify the main problems of Utilitarianism. To what extent do these make Utilitarianism unacceptable?
)What are the advantages of Utilitarianism? Jeremy Bentham, born 1748 was 'an extremely shy and sensitive person, who always felt insecure in the company of strangers.'1 In matters of religion, he was an atheist and he opposed to both Monarchy inherited upper class. He was interested with the social conditions of his day. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, however he changed his course halfway through his studies saying he was 'going to set out to reform it into the perfect system.' The idea he based this aim on was the 'Principle of Utility.' He defined this is the action that is right or creates the greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest amount of people. Happiness or pleasure to Bentham is maximum pleasure and minimum pain or suffering. He said that whatever increased or led to pleasure is morally good and whatever led to pain or the decrease of pleasure is morally bad. Bentham used something called the Hedonic Calculus to measure the amount of pleasure and pain in an action. This concerned intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent. However, it is impossible to calculate the pleasure or pain an action brings Bentham's use of the Hedonic Calculus was no longer used. Bentham failed to realise that his theory is only the basis of Utilitarianism and that his idea has many faults, for example, he did not make any distinctions
The Teleological Argument
The Teleological Argument The word 'teleological' comes from the Greek word 'telos' which means 'end' or 'purpose'. The teleological argument is also known as the design argument, which is an a posteriori argument because it is an argument based on external evidence. The argument makes the basic assumptions that there is order, purpose and regularity in the universe and that all things function to fulfil a specific purpose. The argument further states that the complexity of the universe shows evidence of design and such design implies a designer, and therefore the designer of the universe is God. There are two aspects of the teleological argument and they are design qua regularity and design qua purpose. Design Qua Regularity looks at design in terms of order and regularity in the universe. Those who support this argument think that the order and regularity in the universe is the evidence, which shows that there is a designer at work. One of supporters of this aspect of the argument was St Thomas Aquinas. He stated that everything works to some purpose or other and lifeless objects that have no rational powers must be directed to this purpose by some external power. For example, an arrow, which is directed by the archer. Aquinas then concluded, that therefore some intelligent beings exists by whom all natural things are directed to their purpose and this being Aquinas
"We are free to make ethical decisions" Discuss.
"We are free to make ethical decisions" The views of scholars and philosophers regarding free will are generally representative of libertarianism, hard determinism or compatibilism, also referred to as soft determinism. These three theories display different attitudes to the extent of free choice humans possess, and the moral responsibility that thus follows, or lack of there of. Libertarians reject the idea of predestination and believe in full moral responsibility for our chosen actions. For instance, Existentialists embrace the essence of Augustine's work. He had a traditional understanding of God as an omniscient, omnipotent and an omnibenevolent Creator, and interpreted the Genesis stories much more literally that one would tend to today. Augustine believed that God knowingly created humans as conscious beings capable of determining their own moral behaviour. Augustine valued such freedom above the moral evil it may potentially cause, and believed that the unethical consequences were a price worth paying for the ability to willfully be in harmony with God. If one chooses to act unethically, the evil thus produced is caused by the abuse of free will granted by God. Therefore, whatever the outcome, humans have the freedom to act in whichever way the feel appropriate. No human (or spiritual being) has a pre-determined good or bad nature, and hence may potentially make
