Blog Assignment #6

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PART ONE

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QUESTION #1: If an action that is praised in one culture may be condemned in another, would it be correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in?

ANSWER 1A:

Yes it is correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in. For instance many cultures around the world think that school administrators are justified to hit kids if the kids are misbehaving in any way, but in America any form of corporal punishment within the education system is strictly forbidden. Also, in some African tribes being overweight as a woman is a symbol of her family's great wealth and high social status, while in America if a woman is over weight it is looked down upon. Culture is vastly diverse depending upon the location, so right and wrong cannot be determined based on another culture's location.

ANSWER 1B:

P: Cultural activities represent history and often times others don't see history as an ever popular influence on modern life.

P: People within a culture only know the morals they were raised with and most of the times never experience or think about other cultures beliefs.

C: Therefore, it is correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in



QUESTION #2: Isn’t it a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures or to claim that one culture is better than another?

ANSWER 2A:

Yes it is a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures or to claim that one cultures is better than another because unless you know and have experienced exactly all of the lifestyles of every culture in the world, you are highly unqualified to judge any culture better than another culture. Claiming that any culture is superior is simply ignorant because every culture has different values. Since every culture has different values it is impossible to judge if one culture has better values than the next. Everyone belongs to or was raised in a certain culture and therefore there is always a biased opinion if judging anothers culture.

ANSWER 2B:

P: There is always a biased opinion when judging anothers culture due to judger's own culture or cultural upbringing.

P: Every culture has different values which makes it impossible for anyone to judge if one culture is better than the next.

C: Therefore, it is a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures


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PART TWO

In America it is widely believed that a person should not be punished for something that they have no control over. Within our culture it would be morally wrong to withhold money and to hit your spouse because you believe she is the reason for the birth of a daughter rather than a son. Although this is very different from china's culture where it would be acceptable because they hold high values in having a son to maintain the family line. Still, I do not believe it would be morally right to punish a wife for giving birth to a daughter when she obviously has no control over the sex of her child.

Arguable issue: Whether or not a wife should be punished for giving birth to a daughter.

P: A parent should love a child no matter what the sex of the child is. (moral principle, Value of life).
P: A person should not be punished over something they have no control over. (Fairness)
P: A spouse should never be hit without provocation.

C: Therefore, a wife should not be punished for giving birth to a daughter.

Blog Assignment #1

1. How would you have explained the meaning of the term "ethics", before taking this class?
Before taking this class I thought ethics was strictly what a person should or shouldn't do. The first day of class got me more acquainted with ethics and now I would describe it as the general nature of morals a person has. It is the way people act when they feel something is morally right or wrong.
2. What are some of your deepest held values?
I feel honesty and loyalty are very important to me. I think a friends or family members should not try to use you if there is an already established bond of trust. Honesty is also very important to me because it is hard to trust someone if they are not honest. When a person is dishonest it seems most likely like they are trying to take advantage of someone or a situation.
3. What are some main principles you try to live your life by?
I try to live my life as non violent as possible. Through my experiences growing up I came to the conclusion that almost anytime I was in or around a fight nothing was solved. Of course there at time when violence can not be avoided but when a meaningless argument escalates into a fight, nothing is solved from it.
4. What moral qualities do you look for in others?
I mainly look for honesty in others. If a person is dishonest you really don't know who they are as a person because all they you have heard are lies. Also I feel if someone is not telling the truth it usually comes off like he or she is trying to take advantage of you.
5. How were your values and principles developed?
All of my principles were developed through my parents teaching and my life experiences. I feel that my values and principles were more developed though my life experiences as I would frequently think about I was effecting others feelings. I feel my parents helped me develop the base of my principles but my life experiences helped me fully develop them.
6. How have your values and principles changed throughout your life so far?
As I was growing up I would not care as much about how I was effecting other peoples feelings. As I grew up I realized it is very important to consider others feelings and to make sure not to intentionally hurt others. I am glad I turned out the way I am today because I feel I am a much more fair and honest person.
7. Out of 25 points, how many points do you feel your work on this assignment deserves? Justify your answer.
I feel I deserve 15 points out of 25 because I answered all of the questions truthfully and to the best of my abilities but I didn't complete the assignment on time. Thank you for giving me a chance to make up some of my missed work but I did complete it the best that I could.

blog assignment #5

http://youtube.com/watch?v=n_O74wvsbSs

"For all its imperfections, conscience is the most important single guide to right and wrong an individual can have"(45, Ruggiero). Morally, our conscience will be the best means to an answer concerning most life decisions. The text states that listening to your moral conscience may be the most plausible answer but other choices can be good too if the consequences are well analyzed, but most people shy away from gut feelings anyway in exchange for orders from an authority figure. We are situationally influenced as the video I have chosen to represent this chapter shows. Whether or not we know that the action taken is in moral standing or not, most will ignore their own code of ethics to satisfy authority or complete a job. In the video I have chosen an experiment that was done by a man named Milgram in the 1960's. Experiments began in July 1961, three months after the start of the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Milgram devised the experiments to answer this question: "Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?" In the experiment two out of three tested stuck to orders to continue shocking despite screams coming from the subject being electrically shocked. Our conscience and our ability to relentlessly follow orders, despite our conscience, clash on a day to day basis.

4. In a separate paragraph, tell me how many points you believe your efforts deserve--in argument form! For example:
Arguable issue: whether or not this post deserves points...if yes, how many?
Conclusion: I believe that this post deserves 25 points.
Premises: this post deserves 25 points because:
(1) I followed all instructions given.
(2) I found an interesting video that related to the chapter on conscience.

(3)I described how the video related to the chapter to the best of my ability with specific examples.