Does Utilitarianism or Kant’S Moral Thory Present a Totally Satisfactory Theory of Ethics?

Does Utilitarianism or Kant’S Moral Thory Present a Totally Satisfactory Theory of

  • Word count: 1769
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Can Sympathy Provide A Satisfactory Basis For Morality?

Can Sympathy Provide A Satisfactory Basis For Morality? Western philosophy has provided many attempts to unravel the complex problem of human morality and to provide answers to questions such as 'how can I be moral?' and more generally to questions such as 'What is morality?'. One prominent line of thought, which can be traced back to the writings of Cicero places sympathy or a kind of fellow feeling as the basis for morality. It is this particular idea, whether or not sympathy can provide a sound basis for morality, that I am going to explore over the course of this study with particular reference to the writings of the Scottish empiricist philosopher David Hume (1711-1776) in two of his principle works A Treatise of Human Nature (1739) and An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751). For Hume, sympathy is an essential feature of the way humans communicate and in particular communication of feelings from one individual to another, such that if one person sees a misfortune befall another they will, in some sense, share in the pain of that misfortune. Hume's moral philosophy is unusual in that it seems to present us with less of a moral philosophy than a socio-psychological account of why humans in general act in the moral way that they do. As the central idea within this question is the suitability of sympathy as a basis for morality, it will be helpful to offer

  • Word count: 1440
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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How might a religious believer be influenced by their beliefs and teachings in their attitude towards the use of animals for entertainment

"How might a religious believer be influenced by their beliefs and teachings in their attitude towards the use of animals for entertainment" There have been several Bible verses and church statements that have been written about animals and this would influence a Christian's attitude towards the use of animals for entertainment. Bullfighting is a controversial issue, the bulls are made to bleed before forcing them to run around a ring until they are exhausted, at which point they are killed. In the Roman Catholic Catechism it says "Animals...are owed respect and appropriate care. We owe them kindness." Many forms of animal entertainment do not treat the animals kindly; and therefore this statement should influence a believer to be against the forms of animal entertainment that cause the animals pain. In the Bible, in Genesis 8:22-9:17 it says "All the animals...will live in fear of you. They are all placed under your power." The fact that it says "They are all placed under your power", might influence a religious believer to think that we are allowed to control animals and we can do whatever we want with them, they would therefore think that it is alright to use animals for entertainment. In the Bible, in Proverbs 12:10, it says "A good man takes care of his animals, but wicked men are cruel to theirs." This might make a Christian agree with some forms of animal

  • Word count: 554
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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'A critical study of a significant aspect or aspects of Plutarch's aims and achievements as a biographer' -To what extent does Plutarch achieve his aims for the lives of Marius and Caesar?

'A critical study of a significant aspect or aspects of Plutarch's aims and achievements as a biographer' -To what extent does Plutarch achieve his aims for the lives of Marius and Caesar? We are able to establish Plutarch's aims in creating his biographies by looking at his background and influences. Plutarch was born in Greece to a wealthy established family. He was well educated, studying rhetoric in Athens, and then travelled to Rome where he established connections with some important political figures. Despite being an outsider (a Greek), Plutarch accepted Roman aristocratic tradition as well as the moralising of some key Roman figures. This is reflected in the 'Lives' which in effect provide moral guidelines, prescribing how one should live a virtuous life. He viewed himself as an artist or moraliser rather than a historian, believing, "It is not so much history that we are writing but lives."1 Plutarch was deeply into the platonic approach to ethics, and therefore was also influenced by Socrates. Plato was a pupil of Socrates who claimed that the most important thing in life was to know how one should live; an emphasis on moral conduct was therefore passed down to Plutarch. He is fascinated not only by great deeds and battles but, "often a little matter, like a saying or a joke,"2 which can be more revealing in terms of character and virtue. Plato's philosophy was

  • Word count: 1924
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Death & the afterlife-A

Question A Describe the teachings and the beliefs of the afterlife in Christianity about death and what may happen after life. Christians believe the soul is as immortal, tangible, metaphysical body alive within each human. The soul is believed to be you're after life body (for heaven) until the apocalypse (Christians call this judgment day). On Judgment day the Bible says: 'Death and the world of the dead also gave up the dead they held' (Revelations) upon the deceased's ascension the physical body (from our life on Earth) will be given back to the dead. This is why most Christians used to believe in burial rather than cremation, so they may have a body for that day. Now a new interpretation of the Bible is a more popular belief-that we will be given 'new bodies' for our life with God. It is popular due to scientific development. We now know that dead bodies simply rot. Other religions have different beliefs about the 'disposal' of the body. Hindu's believe that burial is only for children who have not yet reached puberty. They believe in burning them body in front of everybody, they believe cremation gives freedom to the soul, so it can move onto another life. If they are cremated they are with their feet facing south representing their God of death-Yama. Muslims however do not believe in cremation and are buried quickly, with their head facing Mecca. Islam originated

  • Word count: 1294
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Explain ethical egoism. Do you believe that it is true? Why or why not?

Explain ethical egoism. Do you believe that it is true? Why or why not? Ethical egoism is a normative theory that states, an individuals actions ought to be done from the perspective to maximize one's self-interest. Ethical egoism requires that people give special treatment to themselves, that they have a duty to serve their self-interest. Egoism holds that a person should act only when the action benefits them, and they should therefore refrain from actions when the act produces no benefits for them. When one action is wrong the opposite of the action rationally would seem to be one that is correct. If helping a person would hinder your own self-interst, this would therefore seem to make it morally permissible for a person to perform harm to others in situations where their self-intrest will benefit from the action. But, an egoistic must act in accordance with one's own eternal self-interest, therefore they are not just individuals who believe that they should always do what they like when they like, because acting in accordance with this maxim would not always necessarily benefit the person in the long-term. When we say that a person ought to do something, we are also implying is that they are capable of doing it the action. We cannot expect people to do things that they cannot do. In the scenario of a drowning child, if one cannot swim, then one is not physically capable

  • Word count: 2165
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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What in your opinion is the difference between doing the best thing and doing the right thing?

What in your opinion is the difference between doing the best thing and doing the right thing? The essay title addresses morality, however doing the best thing in my opinion focuses on one school of morality and doing the right thing focuses on another. These two different schools of morality are utilitarianism, which in my opinion looks at doing the best thing and Kantian ethics, which looks at doing the right thing. My reasons on why I have made this distinction will be explained through the essay, and at the end I will conclude whether the two schools of ethics do focus on the different aspects, or whether it just appears that they do. Utilitarianism is a moral system based on creating the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number. The theory is very agreeable, however it is clear to see that the notions of intention, motive, rights and fairness are not addressed. Utilitarianism is therefore said to be consequentialist (results based), i.e. ends justify the means. For example there are two people, Mark and John. Mark decides to give some money to charity so that others praise him, and John gives some money out of a sense of duty. According to utilitarianism both actions result in maximum happiness for the greatest number and therefore both are equally moral, however most people would agree that giving the money out of a sense of duty, and not for personal gain

  • Word count: 1111
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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The boundaries between ethics and science are very controversial. Many scientists have the attitude that they are willing to do anything if it provides for a gain in knowledge.

Christine Long 05/09/03 IB Theory of Knowledge Epps The boundaries between ethics and science are very controversial. Many scientists have the attitude that they are willing to do anything if it provides for a gain in knowledge. Others have tried to impose a set of ethical values over the gaining of knowledge. They have attempted to make prior judgments as to what science should or should not do based on attempts to project into the future what the outcome and implications a given of scientific investigation will have for society. Can science function over these constraints? Can negative results that some scientific investigation has on society be avoided by exercising this restraint? Or does science to be conducted properly have to be free to seek knowledge freely, leaving society to deal with consequences only after the fact? Can science be honest and ethical and objective all at the same time? In the film Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie, Dr. Edward Teller says of the Hydrogen bomb: "...others didn't want to do it, but I didn't care. I was interested in knowledge, knowledge, and more knowledge." With this, Teller didn't care about the affects of the H-bomb; he only cared about the knowledge that he gains from this experimentation. Why is he so apt to gaining knowledge? What usually motivates people to desire the gain of knowledge? Is it all for one's

  • Word count: 885
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Emotivism Essay

Explain what scholars mean when they say ethical statements are no more than expressions of opinions. Some scholars say that ethical statements are no more that expressions of opinions, others however would disagree. I will now explore these ideas further. Emotivism is a theory which says that moral statements are just expressions of feelings and has no ethical knowledge. Emotivism does not tell you how to live your life, but helps you to understand and influences moral statements. When we talk about good and 'bad' right and wrong we are simply just expressing an opinion emotional state of approval and disapproval. Emotivism came about from the theory of logical positivism. This is the view that only those things that can be tested are meaningful. For example ... The theory says roughly says that any genuine truth claim must be able to be tested by sense experience. Since moral judgments can't be tested by sense experience, they aren't genuine truth claims. So moral judgments only express feelings. Thus logical positivism leads to Emotivism. Emotivism is also known as the boo/hurrah theory in which we say boo to bad things e.g. poverty and illness, but hurrah to the good things e.g. giving to charity, this idea simply sums up the idea of emotivism. A.J Ayer was a philosopher of mind and logic, he said that meaningful statements have to be verified, whether this be

  • Word count: 551
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Dante's Inferno

The Bible vs. The Inferno Written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and 1321, the Divine Comedy is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature. Dante's inferno gives many people an idea of what hell could look like. It makes many think about sin have been committed and the punishments that could entail. The nine circles that Dante makes are completely influenced by him. The Bible says nothing about circles or specific punishments for sins. Even though Dante was a devout Catholic who based some of his crimes the Bible, many of his punishments and his description of crimes however were portrayed differently in his writing. One of the biggest differences between Dante's work and the Bible is that in the Bible everyone who goes to hell gets the same punishment. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire". (Revelation 20:15) The book of life is where the sins of everyone is written down and from that list of sins is how it is decided who will go to hell. To many, like Dante one universal sin is unfair. Dante's vision of hell involved such eternal punishments as souls tormented by biting insects, wallowing in mud, immersed in boiling blood, being lashed with whips. Lesser punishments involve having heads on backwards, chasing unreachable goals for eternity, and walking endlessly in circles. People commit many levels of

  • Word count: 674
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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