Blog 6

Blog 6 - How did the third contemporary issue effect your principles? What more have you found that you need to reasonably respond to these moral issues beyond a set of principles? Are their other skills or knowledge that will make you a more effective ethical being? What are they?

The third contemporary issue effected my principles. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the premeditated act of putting someone to death for a crime he or she has committed. I think it is wrong to intentionally kill someone. I think the murder of a victim is the same as the murder of a criminal. If anything, the murder of a criminal is worse because it is premeditated. Many times murderers kill in acts of passion, not premeditation. I do believe that capital punishment is wrong, however I do have an open mind. So, I do believe that if a murderer continues to committ heinous crimes even in prison, then he or she should be put to death. In this scenario, this is the only way that the criminal is going to be stopped.

I think that keeping an open mind and not judging others will make me a more effective ethical being. I think that  many times people get involved in other's lives, and sometimes they have no place to do so. I feel the world is made up of many different people with different cultures, religions, and beliefs. It's appropriate to keep an open mind when it comes to certain issues such as this contemporary issue.

I commented on  http://becksbradley.blogspot.com blog.

Blog 5

Blog 5 - How did the second contemporary issue effect your principles? Are you better able to see areas where your principles need adjusting? What adjustments need to be made? Which philosopher's position was least consistent with your own principles and why?




My principles have always centered around the idea of people not hurting others. The controversial issue of abortion definitely challenges my initial principles. How can I speak about not hurting others, but yet be completely pro-choice? And not in the sense that I am against it, but think women should have a choice. No. I actually believe that if necessary, an abortion is the RIGHT thing to do. I don't think that adjusting my principles would be an honest decision, because I would be changing my principles just so that they could coincide with my beliefs on this contemporary issue. According to my current "principles", Warren's position on abortion is least consistent with them. Warren believes that abortion is morally justified. My principles entail that people deserve to make decisions based on the fact that no one is getting hurt. However abortion, the killing of a potential life, for lack of better words, goes completely against it. So, Warren's position goes against what my principles are, even though they coinside with my position on abortion.

I commented on Christian's blog  http://ethicalwellbeingchris.blogspot.com/.

Blog #4

Blog 4- How did the first contemporary issue effect your principles? Did it challenge them? Were your principles helpful in working out your response to the issue? Which philosopher's position was most consistent with your own principles and why?

The first contemporary issue does not effect my principles at all. Although the Christian religion in which I was raised in does not accept human cloning, my own personal beliefs do not conflict with the contemporary issue. Christian believers are opposed to human cloning because of the question of morality and what is ethically right. My principles, however, are not exclusive to what is morally right. I think that we are all entitled to our own rights, as long as we are not hurting anyone. Also, human cloning does have beneficial factors. Such factors include: reversing mental illnesses, abolishing infertility, and stem cell research. I think that Tooley's position on human cloning is most consistent with my own principles. He focuses on the benefits of human cloning and believes that it should be morally allowed. We are all different, and one's belief should be able to different from someone else's. 

I commented on  http://danwilson22-dansblog.blogspot.com blog.

Blog #3

What Social / Moral Principles do you find compelling and why? How do these principles fit with the personal principles you identified in Blog 2? Do they conflict at all? Do you think you can live according to both? How will you go about doing so? i.e. Prioritize them? Adopt specific ones for specific contexts?

I think Marx's ideals on communism are especially compelling. In theory, the principles of communism would establish equality within a society. Unfortunately, because of government  interference, the ideals of communism have not been established as they should have been. I do not think that these principles would conflict at all with the personal principles previously identified. I think the principles would compliment one another. I think a society where competition, heiarchy, and human labor as a commodity are abolished, provides a foundation for a happier society. If everyone were getting paid the same amount of money, people would finally be able to do what they loved, instead of what profession or job would pay the most. I think in living in a society where there is no need to be better than someone else, I would be able to withold my basic principles of not stealing, lying, and cheating. Also, I would be able to be even more open to different opportunities. I would be able to explore careers and choose what would make me the happiest. I think my most important personal principle is to have an open mind and to not judge others. I feel that if I continue to live according to that principle, than I would be able to live with the other principles.


I commented on http://dianaalimi.blogspot.com/ blog.

Blog #2

Blog 2 - What personal principles did you adhere to before entering this course and where did they come from? Were they taught to you? Did you develop them on your own? How have our readings and discussions impacted those principles? Of the principles covered which are you drawn to the most and why?

Before entering this course a lot of my personal principles were influenced by my family, friends, environment, and society. At a young age, at home I was taught not to curse, lie, steal, or cheat. These values came from my mother whom had a Christian background. I was taught to be nice to others because that is what I was taught in grade school and my mom also enforced that belief. When I moved away to college, I experienced many things that I would not have otherwise had I still be living at home. I met many people with different cultural beliefs and also different values. Growing up I made many mistakes. I did a lot of bad things which inevitably had bad consequences. I fell and got back up again and I can really relate to the existentialist view of the human being. The existentialist believes that “you” are responsible for your own actions. I completely agree with that. I am currently in the quest for spirituality; I do not have a certain belief set in stone. I feel that because I do not really know where I stand spiritually or even religiously, it is easier to just say that we are responsible for ourselves, and everything that happens is because we choose for them to happen.  I think that the readings and discussions in class have allowed me to become even more open than I already was. I feel that I can think and discuss for longer periods of time because of all the possible principles that there are.  

I commented on Brittany's post, http://brittbloom22.blogspot.com/2012/02/blog-2.html?showComment=1330893948357#c2704854670603541595