Emmanuel Levinas attempts to disprove theodicies by first explaining why humans believe in them. Levinas calls the explanation of suffering "political teleology" (375). He explains that people use
When placed in particular situations, humans rank which cultural or personal values they found the most essential. Consequently, certain ideals are not considered. During the infamous incident known as the Holocaust, this occurred frequently. As a result, the people that underwent these horrible situations nominated particular personal or cultural values over others. This selection determined the difference between life and death for several individuals. One instance of this is a Jewish survivor known as Elie Wiesel. His first person narrative Nigh publishes his horrific experiences during the Holocaust. The memoir discusses the impressions the event had on him. Upon analyzing Night for the personal or cultural principles that were prioritized during the Holocaust, Wiesel utilizes literary devices to reveal that humans begin to lose faith, hope, and morality when subjected to circumstances of injustice.
Children learn to pursue a pure conscience, close bonds of trust. and to cause commit no sins. This lesson repeats itself, all the way until adulthood, but many forget it as well. As a result, society turns to deceit to solve their issues for them. Others deceive themselves by living in a world of illusions, providing short-term bliss. That said, once the illusion crumbles, it also destroys him. Likewise, John Steinbeck explores the double-edged sword of deception in his novel East of Eden. Just as in society, many characters throughout the story appear innocent and sinless. Despite this initial virtuosity, Steinbeck’s East of Eden evinces humanity’s contrasting and inherent dependence upon selfish uses of deception without considering the
Regardless of age, gender, and race, everyone encounters different problems in his or her daily life. Whether the problems are as simple as getting up in the morning or untangling the headphones, people need to find a solution to solve them. The only thing that matters is what solutions they will seek. In David Foster Wallace’s “Good People,” he narrates a story about two college students, Lane Dean, Jr. and Sheri Fisher, who face a dilemma of choosing between either abortion or keeping their baby. They are torn between these choices because they come from a religious family, in which abortion is unethical and immoral. Thus, the couple is stuck in a battle between right and wrong as well as good and evil. As the story proceeds, one will notice that Wallace uses a third person point of view to depict his character, Lane Dean, in order to let readers gain a better understanding of the character’s struggles, feelings, and thoughts.
The divine command theory, utilitarianism, Kant’s duty defined morality, natural law theory, and Aristotle’s virtue ethics are the five types of ethical theories. The divine command theory states that what is morally right and wrong will be decided by God. Utilitarianism states that “Action “A” is morally right if and only if it produces the greatest amount of overall happiness. Kant’s duty defined morality states that what is important is acting for the sake of producing good consequences, no matter what the act is. Natural law theory states that people should focus on the good and avoid any evil. The last theory is Aristotle’s virtue ethics which states that we should move from the concern towards good action and to focus on the concern with good character. This paper argues that Aristotle’s virtue ethics is better than the other ethical theories.
William K. Clifford’s “The Ethics of Belief” is an essay about justification and how we are morally required to prove our beliefs. Clifford’s theory throughout the essay was “It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” Clifford thinks that it is a moral obligation for you to confirm each of your beliefs with sufficient proof, no matter how questionable or insignificant the beliefs may be. I believe he thinks this because beliefs have serious effects and consequences on others.
Conscience is the feeling inside one 's self that alerts them that something is wrong. This can sometimes be overpowered by stronger external forces such as a powerful authority figure, surrounding circumstances, or the belief that what they did was correct. Through, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Hannah Arendt argues that for the first time the world has encountered a different kind of criminal- - one that blindly followed orders from superiors and was made to believe the anti-Semitic ideology, although it could have been any ideology. Similarly, in her work, A Human Being Died That Night, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela claims that the actions of ordinary citizens could be influenced by surrounding practices and drive people
Many people feel they are being persuaded into doing acts that they don’t want to, or having judgments that they don’t believe in, all because people are used to doing what they see others do. In Chris Abani’s short story The Lottery, he was only a 10 year old boy when he got pressured into seeing a man burn and had to also spit on him. Langston Hughes was also a young boy in Salvation, when he had to lie in church, about being saved by Jesus. In the short piece Why Are Beggars Despised? George Orwell does not see a difference in beggars who live on the streets and working people. He believes beggars shouldn’t be looked down on because they don’t have jobs. Abani, Hughes, and Orwell all claim that society pressures people into believing certain things and acting in certain ways by, making people learn from others mistakes, pressuring humans into doing what others do, and
Some feel very strongly about what they know to be certain. Some feel certain about religion, others about love. In Oscar Wilde’s book The Picture of Dorian Gray a character, Lord Henry Wotton, says this, : “The things one feels absolutely certain about are never true. That is the fatality of Faith, and the lesson of romance” (181). The truth one knows does not always prove to be certain. Truth varies for each person and truths have been disproved throughout history. Science has also brought to light many new discoveries to everyone’s lives. Therefore, this epigram is valid and the things one feels certain about are not true.
Regardless of age, gender, and race, everyone encounters different problems in his or her daily life. Whether the problems are as simple as getting up in the morning or untangling the headphones, people need to find a solution to solve them. The only thing that matters is what solutions they will seek. In David Foster Wallace’s “Good People,” he narrates a story about two college students, Lane Dean, Jr. and Sheri Fisher, who face a dilemma of choosing between either abortion or keeping their baby. They are torn between these choices because they come from a religious family, in which abortion is illegal and they will become immoral if they decide to have an abortion. Thus, the couple is stuck in a battle between right and wrong as well as good, and evil. As the story proceeds, one will notice Wallace uses various writing techniques to depict his character, Lane Dean, in order to let readers gain a better understanding of him. For instance, he uses a third person point of view to describe Lane’s struggles, feelings, and thoughts.
The concept of morality is commonly believed to be a byproduct of religion with “[n]early half of Americans believ[ing] that morality is impossible without belief in god” (Pyysiäinen 44). Yet, the correlation between the two seems to be less concrete with research showing that “[c]ountries with high rates of religiosity tend to have higher rates of homicide, juvenile mortality (including suicide), sexually transmitted diseases and adolescent pregnancy, and abortion ( 45). Moreover, a study evaluated by Pyysiäinen finds that “religiosity has little to nothing to do with how people evaluate the goodness or badness and acceptability vs. non-acceptability of particular moral judgements” (Pyysiäinen 47). Instead of religion creating morals, Broom
Theodore Roosevelt once said “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” Everyone will struggle at some point in their life and how they handle these struggles can either bring a positive or negative outcome. Peter Elbow’s essay “The Doubting Game and the Believing Game-An Analysis of the Intellectual Enterprise” describes the believing and doubting game and the effects they can have on a person. I have personally struggled academically in Advanced Placement physics. By choosing the believing game,I was able to overcome this struggle and was given a deeper understanding on how to deal with future issues. In order to examine how the believing game can bring a positive outcome compared to the doubting game, Elbow’s essay needs to be examined. My personal experience will be shared, and I will discuss why believing had a positive impact and left me with a deeper understanding.
But somehow, when I present this same basic belief in the context of a secular humanist thrust into the brutal world of criminal justice, it loses its coherence. (Feige 238)
Writing about controversial subjects can often be difficult; however Hughes executed his story, Salvation, in an intriguing manner that is suitable to all audiences and religions. In this story, the writer retells an experience from his childhood describing his journey to Jesus Christ. Discussing the complications, the main character, Hughes, faced while trying to come to Jesus is what makes the story interesting to read. On many occasions, you will read a story or watch a movie that shows the main character coming to Jesus and having an immediate and obvious realization of their Savior. For this reason, I found this story to be unique and relatable in the way that it shows a journey that countless Christians face, but you are not often granted the opportunity to read about this type of experience.
The tradition of following particular notions and dogmas in our culture shape our role as individuals in society. In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” we are introduced to the destructive influence that unchallenged or unquestioned dogma has on an entity's life and death in a community. In this paper I will engage in textual analysis with the purpose of demonstrating and comparing how Salman Rushdie’s outlooks of organized religion and its effect on society in his essay, “Imagine there’s No Heaven” compares to those implied in Jackson’s short story. “The Lottery,” conveys the argument of the endangerment in thoughtlessly following rituals in cultural society. In Rushdie’s essay he perceives these traditional followings of dogmatic