Good And Evil example essay topic

"Everyone throws around the labels moral and ethical, often using them redundantly as if to make a stronger case (e.g. 'He behaved both morally and ethically'). If you ask people the difference, most won't have a clue; they " ve just been repeating the formula because it sounds good. But we can make a distinction between the two that I think is useful. Ethics refers to a theory or system that describes what is good and, by extension, what is evil. Mythology and theology are the oldest sources of ethics, though philosophical systems are often more discussed today. Morals refer to the rules that tell us what to do or not to do.

Morality divides actions into right and wrong. "Morals have to do with your personal life: What is appropriate behavior on a first date. Is taking a ream of paper from your corporate office home to your kids a crime? Ethics are more theoretically focused: How do we judge white-collar crime versus violent crime?

How do we allocate transplant organs as long as demand outstrips supply? Morals are the rules you live by; ethics are the systems that generate those rules. "Ethics are about theory, while morals are about practice. Your personal philosophical standing will be strongest when you successfully link the two. If you know what is good or evil, you should be able to figure out what is right or wrong. You have to know your options, weight the pros and cons, and find a way of reasoning morally about what confront you so that you feel justifiably right in your intended response.

If you don't feel right, maybe you shouldn't do whatever it is you " re contemplating doing. If it is the right thing, there will always be a way to justify it. Note that rationalization is something else altogether. You can rationalize anything, shaping and misquoting any idea to fit your plan (no one will find out; nobody's perfect; the devil made me do it; God will forgive me; I'm the President). Justification, however, shares the same root as justice and just.

It demands weightier deliberation and in return provides surer footing. "Your challenge is to have a personal ethical system up and running that you can rely on for moral guidelines. You " ll have to begin by contemplating what is good and what is bad. That problem has stumped philosophers down through the ages, so don't expect to have a complete and infallible answer by the end of this {unit}. In the Republic, Plato posits a dialogue in which Socrates asks him to define Good: 'Is it knowledge, or pleasure, or something else?' He'd already pinned down several virtues, including temperance and justice, but faced with this challenge, Socrates replies, 'I am afraid it is beyond my powers.

' "Centuries later, the view hadn't gotten much clearer. 'Good, then, ... is incapable of any definition, in the most important sense of that word,' wrote G.E. Moore. Nietzsche complained of the 'ancient illusion called Good and Evil. ' Like others who have tried before you, you may not be able to answer this riddle precisely.

Nonetheless, it is crucial to get you feet wet trying. It is the only way to create a strong foundation. "Plato held that people have an intuitive grasp of the Good, though we have only poor copies of the ideal in our real world. 'The highest object of knowledge is the essential nature of the Good, from which everything that is good and right derives its value for us,' he wrote... Plato didn't reach his own highest goal and never pinned down a definition. "Hobbes took a different view: 'Whatsoever is the object of any man's appetite or desire, that is it, which he for his part call eth Good: And the object of his hate, and aversion, Evil.

In other words, Hobbes opposes Plato and says that there is no universal essence of good; good and evil are only labels that we use to describe our likes and dislikes. "The Tao teaches that we can only recognize good in comparison to evil but doesn't provide any working definition. "Why be good, or moral or ethical? Why be concerned about right and wrong? What's in it for us? All of this is easier if you subscribe to a religion that lays out good and evil for you, on the authority of God.

The great religions all give moral guidance originating from a divine power. Attributing the rules to God kills two birds with one stone; you " ve got very specific morals to guide your actions and an absolute ethical system to hang them on. Obeying God's commandments is what it means to be right. The rules come from God, and God is good. "If that works for you, you are ahead of the game.

Even if you don't believe in a religion, you can still use the wisdom the ancient theologians presented, without owing allegiance to a deity. The scriptures of all major religions contain profound insights into morality from which anyone can benefit. But to gain philosophical resolution to life issues, with or without faith, you " ll have to seek out and understand the important precepts and work them into your personal worldview... The thought and reasoning behind your actions is the key to facing and resolving whatever comes you way". from Plato, Not Prozac by Lou Marin off, Phd.