Justice restores and perpetuates humanity’s high moral standing. For the first two weeks of the whole school year for English 2, we read Genesis 1-9 and Book 1 of the Metamorphoses. Generally speaking, the two books are all about the Creation Myth, based on the religions and culture of the contemporary society. Although both of the books were written based on different religions and cultures (Greek culture for the Metamorphoses and Christian culture for Genesis), yet either Genesis or Metamorphoses shared the same characteristic, symbols, and motifs, portraying a “higher power ” that seeks to uphold justice in the world (often through punishment). The story in Genesis 3 “The fall” appeals to the reader’s logic and ensures that they can follow a logical path to support my claim that the power and justice should be complementary with each other in order to keep the balance of forces through equality and tranquility is a goal sought after to amend injustice. “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor, you will give birth to children, Your desire will be for your husband.” (Genesis 3, 40) Punishments were given by the God after the God knew that Adam and Eve ate the fruits on the knowledge of the tree since the God had already defined the rule — neither Adam nor Eve could have the fruit on the tree. Due to the curiosity about the rule and the fruit, Eve and Adam ate the fruit; later on, they knew what shame it was. Besides, the narrative story in
In Julia Driver’s 2007 piece, “God and Human Nature”, theories are discussed in order to convey a better understanding of morality and how it is determined. The theory to be discussed is the “Divine Command Theory” and Driver discusses the role of God in assessing morality. The Divine Command Theory is an example of a system that is used to define what is right or wrong, moral or immoral. Essentially, according to this theory, what is right and wrong is “completely a matter of God’s will” (Driver 2007, 23).
Each of the stories were developed with the same ideas in mind. Both stories start with a heavenly setting. God in heaven wanting to create the world and the rich Sky World featured in the Iroquois story. Soon the harmony is broken when women in both of the stories perform a malfeasance act. The women were to not touch a sacred tree in their world.
God had given the task to simply not eat from the tree, because it would kill their innocence, giving them the knowledge of good and evil. However, disregarding the warning they ate it and god struck them down, first with the serpent “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life (Genesis 3:14).” Giving a direct command god smites the serpent to be even lowlier than cattle. Cattle being dumb creature are now given an animal that they can be smarter than. The serpent is also restricted to only the ground, squirming and eating from the dust, which is where life returns in
Another example includes the appearance of the Garden of Eden after the temptation of Eve by the serpent. According to the book of Genesis, when Adam and Eve committed original sin, they lived lives with pain and sorrow. “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field” Genesis (3:17-18). In comparison, the Monkey Garden changed in nature of the monkey moved to Kentucky.
Can matricide ever be justified? The Eumenides is the last tragedy of the trio The Oresteia written by Aeschylus. The tragedy narrates the shift of the justice system from the old gods’ absolute approach towards the new gods’ approach that enables hearing of the other side of a crime. The crime on trial is matricide committed by Orestes, defended as a revenge of his father’s murder. Both sides make claims centring around the judgement of Zeus, the most powerful, to determine the borders of justice.
In Genesis, the test that Adam and Eve faced was the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. God told them not to eat the fruit in Genesis 2:17: “but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it”. They didn’t obey God and they ate the fruit anyway, so God punished them for failing the test. In our society today we still have tests/, laws, and boundaries to keep people in check. If we didn’t have these tests, we wouldn’t know our limits.
Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden which was a place of youth and innocence, much like nature and the flower in the poem. Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge. Eve ate the fruit from the tree, committing the first sin. Then Eve tempted Adam into eating the fruit also. In the poem, the Garden of Eden “sank to grief”.
Though Adam and Eve and Equality 7-2521 all developed in environments of utopian perfection, they experienced different freedoms and restrictions in their lives. Furthermore, one cannot be free without knowing what freedom truly is. Adam and Eve were told that they were allowed to consume any of the fruits from the trees in the garden except from the tree in the center of the garden. “ ‘You [Adam and Eve] must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it...’ ” (Genesis 3:3).
The justice theory states that justice is at the advantage of the stronger; however, there have been cases where even the strongest have been defeated. Take Ovid’s Apollo and Daphne for example, or from a biblical perspective, the Book of Judges, or even Elie Wiesel’s novel Night. These writings each
Hobbesian Theory in Lord of the Flies The question of whether man is inherently good or evil has been debated amongst religions, philosophers, and many great thinkers since the beginning of man itself. On one hand, there are those who believe we as humans are naturally moral beings, and it is society that makes us evil. However, others argue society is not only good, but needed to control our inhumane and animalistic tendencies. One of the most famous believers in this theory is English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes.
The story of Adam and Eve serves as a tale on how mankind and womankind were created and placed on Earth. The story takes place in the Garden of Eden, and because the woman was deceived by the Serpent, both the women and the man were cast down to earth. The Serpent deceived the women by allowing her to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree, as she also influenced the man, God punished both. “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16 NIV) and that He allowed “Adam (to) named his wife Eve” (Genesis 3:20 NIV).
Injustices, tragedies, and unfortunate circumstances have plagued humankind for all of existence. Many of these problems have arisen from the society of man, and could not be found in nature. The hatred, selfishness, prejudice, and maliciousness seen in so many injustices man created unnecessarily, as well as all the suffering it causes does not need to exist. If an individual witnesses a crime or injustice occurring, it is their responsibility to defend the weak and fight for whatever is morally right, even at the cost of themselves.
Sandel, Michael J. (2009). Justice: What’s the right thing to do? New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Introduction & Background Information In the book, Justice:
Justice is an underlying idea that humans revolve around. It is our sole concept that constructs how we think and behave. Justice creates morals and therefore how we judge those around us. If we didn’t have justice, our society would be in chaos and completely unruly. When identifying what is just, there are quite a few traits that can be clearly spotted.
Thesis Statement: Origin of Morality Outline A.Universal Ethics 1.Karl Barth, The Command of God 2.Thomas Aquinas, The Natural Law 3.Thomas Hobbes, Natural Law and Natural Right 4.Immanuel Kant, The Categorical Imperative B.Morality and Practical Reason 1.Practical Reason a.Practical Reason and Practical Reasons C.Evolution of Morality 1.What makes Moral Creatures Moral 2.Explaining the Nature of Moral Judgments F. Answering Questions 1. What is the origin of Morality: Religion or Philosophy? 2. What does religion say about morality?