Individuality In Sophocles Antigone

Conscience, in definition, is the consciousness of moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own conduct, intentions, or character with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good. The boys in the book are alone on an inhabited island where together they establish positions and priorities which soon become neglected. Scattered throughout William Golding’s Lord of the Flies there are many instances which highlight the contagion of evil in the neglect of having a conscience. All this happens because of how the author views the relationship of evil to humans. He suggests that humans’ relationship with evil is like that of gravity between the earth and its subjects. In the way that they are struggling constantly with gravity as it pulls everyone towards it. Through a mask, a boy, and a pig Golding imposes that when losing consciousness, and verging towards savagery the "civilized" will attract towards evil on their own terms.

A tragic character is one whose errors and misfortunes lead to one’s own downfall. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon and Antigone are two characters whose adherence to their principles causes extreme conflict. Antigone believes in what is morally just, while Creon believes in what is civilly just. They both are passionate about fighting to prove that their principles are justifiable. Antigone and Creon, both expressing loyalty and pride toward opposing forces, are unable to come to a consensus, which ultimately leads to the destruction of both characters.

Morality has long been used by human being as a basis for their actions. Believers of God think that doing good deeds is being moral and thus these actions will save them from their sins. They believe that following God’s will, that is the 10 commandments and in the new commandments stated in the New Testament is the written and visible basis for these actions found in the Holy Bible. .

Honor is the adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of conduct. In the dramatic play Antigone by Sophocles, the lead character , Antigone has to make an arduous decision either by following the laws of god, which was to bury her brother Polynices, against the laws of Creon, which was to let Polynices body be left unburied above grounds, to be eaten . Antigone believes that she has to do what is right because the laws of God is more important to her. Honor is worth dying for, because one chooses to do what is right and what will help others, even if it ends in a tragic repercussions.

During the French Revolution, people fought and killed for the things they believed in, specifically rights. It was started for many things, including resentment of royal absolutism, rise of enlightenment ideals, unmanageable national debt, and the unfair treatment of the Third Estate. The French Revolution produced written works such as the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which served as a model of man’s inalienable right to liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. Everyone during the Revolution agreed on and wanted one thing: rights. However, not everyone wanted people to have this privilege, and cared more for themselves.

Erich Fromm is the author of “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem.” According to him, “many can accept obedience because it is good, and detest disobedience because it is bad.” According to Fromm, they’re two types of consciences the “authoritarian conscience” and the “humanistic conscience”. The authoritarian conscience is what people follow when they want to obey; the humanistic conscience is when we follow our instincts. He says,” the conscience is the function of us human beings. It is the voice which calls us back to humanity.” Fromm goes on to discuss the development and standard of morality and how it is set before we are even born; he

Determinism and natural law, two worldviews that stand on opposite sides of the earth. People that value determinism see life as a one way track where any effort made still leave the final destination the same. An individual’s choices will lead to somewhere, but there is nothing they can do to influence whether or not they make that certain choice. In opposition, those who believe in natural law see that the actions of the individual have an influence on the outcome on the outcome of their life. These actions follow their morals, which come from introspection and experience. Chigurh embodies the idea of determinism, while Sheriff Bell embodies the idea of natural law.

“Tell me briefly- not in some lengthy speech were you aware there was a proclamation forbidding what you did?” Antigone’s words, actions and ideas differ with Creon’s character to the point of these two characters having clashing desires. The clashing desires cause the characteristics of controlling, worry, and bitterness that’s highlighted within Creon’s character. Overall, these conflicting motivations develop Creon as a tragic hero by his stubbornness and his pride is way too high and the conflict with Antigone and the battle between the “Laws of the gods” and the “Laws of man.”

The Enlightenment had a huge impact on society. The world before the Enlightenment must have been horrible. Just imagining a world where there is no liberty and as a women be almost a slave and the government taking advantage. All four philosophers have their mind set on different problems that society is dealing with, whether it's religion, economy, nature law, or women’s freedom. The one thing they all have in common is freedom.

“Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness” (Immanuel Kant). Morality is the divergence between right and wrong in every aspect of life. The history of the world has demonstrated human need to attain sovereignty. In the journey to achieve this goal, people have forgotten the gravity of the steps taken to complete an ideal and have only focused on the result. There have been several examples where detrimental actions have been taken by fortunate people to accomplish their goals. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman, living in the early 1900s in eastern United States. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the age of 31, on January 29, 1951. The doctors prescribed her treatment plan as several Radium sessions and an initial surgery to help extirpate the tumor from her body. However, in her first surgery, without obtaining consent, the doctors extracted more than just her tumor. They took samples Henrietta’s cells. Using them, scientist George Gey was able to initiate the first immortal human cell line, denominated HeLa, and help cure various diseases. However, taking advantage of Henrietta’s race and socioeconomic status the doctors never informed her family about her revolutionary cells.

Before making an argument it is important to understand what moral behavior is and to be able to recognize it. The Summa Theologica written by Thomas Aquinas can help one understand and recognize moral behavior. According to Aquinas, there are four types of law. The first is eternal law, which consists of God’s governed guidelines. The second is natural law, which is how we participate in eternal law using reason. There are many precepts in Natural Law, but they all are based on doing good and shunning evil. Good human laws allow us to make it easier to do good and shun evil. Finally, divine law is the fourth law that

The Sociopath Next Door consists of an introduction chapter and then twelve additional chapters. The introduction is all about the reader trying to imagine themselves as being a sociopath by giving the reader the symptoms and asking them what they would do in certain situations. Symptoms included in the introduction are lack of a conscience, no feelings of guilt or remorse, no concern for the well-being of others, being selfish, harmful, glib, superficial charm, manipulative, and impulsive (Stout, 2005). The author goes on to say that the ailment of missing a conscience is referred to as sociopathy which is also known as psychopathy. Stout (2005) then compares sociopathy to antisocial personality disorder as defined by the DSM IV. She argues that the main difference between sociopathy and

“Do good and avoid evil” is a result of the differing educational, religious and cultural influences on man in the various times and places of his historical development. Thomas Aquinas contended that general principles of the natural law cannot be applied to all men in the same way on the great variety of human affairs, thus arises the diversity of positive laws among various people. Human laws deal with changing and contingent matters and often with singulars, do not have the certitude that belongs to the speculative sciences. Each has its own realm of operation and is sufficient that each have the certitude proper to its own realm.[ Ibid. ] Natural law can exist without the governance of a superior being through the usage of positive law. Positive law is needed because of the insufficiency of the natural law to direct man in the practical affairs of his life. A state has the power to make laws then oblige the subjects in conscience to obey in order to provide the benefits of a well-ordered life. With or without a superior being, there will still be an authority that is capable of making laws to ensure the common good based on natural law along with positive

Natural law theory states that there are laws that are immanent in nature and the man made laws should correspond as closely as possible. Man can’t produce natural laws but he can find and discover through his reasoning. If a law is contrary to a natural law then it is not a law. Laws should be related to morality. It is a concept of a body of moral principal that is same for all the man and it can only be find through human reasoning alone. There are many philosophers who followed this theory like Plato, Aristotle and john Locke.

Law is present in our daily life and in everything we do. We cannot think a second without law. Whatever we can see around us everything is connected with the law. Sometimes we can see it and sometimes we cannot see but feel it. Law is not just a thing to obey for yourself but making a peaceful society. What I will explain to you in this article will, how we are connected with the law and I hope, make you see sense in the importance of our laws in the society we live in. To be against the importance of laws in our society would show one to be ignorant and naïve.