Part 1: Questions
1. Since money is not something you can eat, wear, or use for shelter, what qualities does it have that make it a valuable thing?
2. Imagine a hurricane destroys a city. One hour after the storm is over, who is better off than if it had never happened? Who did the hurricane make wealthy?
3. If there is only so much wealth to go around, does this mean everyone must get poorer as more people are born?
4. If it is necessary for one person to earn less if another earns more, wouldn’t that mean it is immoral for you to be in college attempting to make more money?
5. Would an all-powerful, all-loving God make a world where we can only get ahead at the expense of others?
6. When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb and began selling it to people and making a profit, who became poorer because he was making money? Was the world better, worse, or the same afterward?
7. How does the life of a person on welfare in America today compare to the life of the average person in the country 100 years ago? Medical, technology, labor, food, education, etc.
8. When I voluntarily give money to buy a new suit, do I do so because I think the money and the suit are of equal value, the suit is worth more, or the money is worth more? What does the merchant think?
9. If I give a hundred pounds of seed corn to a farmer and also to a starving man, how will each of them use it?
10. When we say that a sporting event is fair to all competitors, what does that mean? Can the event be fair and yet still have winners and losers?
11. If an outside observer were to come and watch K-12 education, what observations might he make about the purpose of the way school is structured as it relates to being an employee?
12. If capitalism is our economic system and entrepreneurs drive the economy, why don’t we teach people to start and own businesses in school?
13. Can poor people help other poor people to be financially secure?
14. When a new casino is built in town, people talk about all the new jobs created. Where does the money come from to fund those new jobs? Where would that money be spent if there were no casino?
15. If a window gets broken, it is certainly good news for the window-maker. Is it bad news for anyone?
16. Historians have sometimes observed that a “wartime economy” is very prosperous for a country. How might you explain this?
17. Can you earn a lot of money and still have financial problems?
18. Who has more potential for financial disaster, someone who earns much or someone who earns little?
19. How would you define financial independence?
20. If a house is such a good investment, why do banks buy mortgages instead of houses?
Monday, September 28, 2009
Ethics Experiments 5-6
Ethics Experiment 5—Kindness (Write-up due 10/7 by 5:00 PM)
This week, I want you to focus on an ideal rather than practice a particular set of behaviors. Kindness means essentially that you treat every person as an opportunity to give. As with any virtue, kindness is more than simply not being mean. The beginning of this task is for you to refrain from saying hurtful things to people, whether they are there in front of you or absent. (Gossip is inherently unkind.) Learning to keep your mouth shut when you might feel like saying something, even making a rude joke, about someone is perhaps going to be a challenge for some of you. But kindness is more than just such restraint. Kindness means actually going out of your way to give people something valuable: encouragement, thanks, a smile, a compliment, holding a door open, letting someone go first, etc. Kindness, therefore, is active. “Appreciate” as a word means “to cause to have increased value.”
One time I saw one of those “Instruction Book” type lists and it said, “Leave every situation a little better than you found it.” For this exercise, I have modified this to say, “Leave every person you meet a little better than you found him or her.” Every person on the planet is built to need other people. Go ahead and give them something that will satisfy that need a little bit. Who can you do this for? Any human qualifies: parents, siblings, strangers, cafeteria workers, waiters, grocery checkers, teachers, janitors, police, etc. In fact, part of the fun of this experiment is to go out of your way to not let anyone pass by you without giving them some kindness. We in this society have a habit of ignoring each other. For one week, simply strive to notice other people more and bless them somehow in little ways. Here is a good goal to have: give at least three people a day a compliment. At least one of them has to be to a stranger. This is the easy part of the exercise.
The harder part of this exercise involves something completely intangible: your thoughts. It is a very good thing to speak kindly and to act kindly towards other people. But the real trick to loving people is to learn to think kindly toward them. Remember, every behavior ultimately starts as a thought. It is far easier to treat people well when you think well of them. In our society, coarseness is the rule of the day. We routinely mock people in our heads and even out loud. I am encouraging you to learn to be judgmental in a favorable way on purpose as an exercise in controlling your own thoughts. Try to do more than simply not think bad (remember, the mind does not perform negation well), instead actively steer your mind in the direction of thinking good of people. Find something about them that you can admire or value.
Every person has value. Think of this exercise as attempting to see that value in each of them. If it helps, try to think of what their parents love about them, or their children, or spouse, etc. I try to consider what God made them for and what He sees of value in them, since He always sees not only who you are but who you can be as well. So I try to see and treat people according to best person I think they can be, in part by imparting this vision to them and in part by expecting and encouraging them to live up to it. As you do this, pay attention to yourself, your thoughts, how others respond to you, and how easy or difficult it is to be kind to people in your mind and then out loud in behavior and speech.
Another aspect of kindness is sensitivity or becoming aware and considerate of how others are doing emotionally. If you don’t normally do so, try asking people around you how they feel, and don’t take “okay” for an answer. Kindness often means learning to listen intently to people. Simply caring enough to pay attention to their emotional needs will be very meaningful to many people, especially women. Although some people will try to not reveal how they are feeling, it is also worth noting that some people are simply doing all right, and some are so out of touch with their own emotions that they can’t describe them. Remember, the idea is to be aware, not to invade or offend.
Ethics Experiment 6—Productivity (Write-up due 10/14 by 5:00)
In the 1950s, there once was a businessman who had a time management expert in to help him in his efforts. I forget the man’s name and the company, but it’s a true story as far as I know. The advisor gave him one simple formula to implement and told the man to send him a check for however much money he thought the suggestion was worth after he tried it for a few weeks. After about a month, the businessman sent the expert a check for $25,000. I want you to try doing the suggestion for one week, but with a slight twist.
Each night, make a list of the six most important things you must do the next day. Then number them in their order of importance. The next day, start on task one, and work on it until you finish it. Cross it off. Then start task 2, and work on it until you finish it. Cross it off. Continue until you either run out of day or run out of tasks. Then that night, repeat the exercise. Don’t worry too much if you don’t finish all the items every day. You will do more than you would have otherwise, and if you couldn’t do them all by this method, you couldn’t have done them all by any other method either.
My addition to the procedure is to make a prediction of how much time each task will take you. One of the great downfalls of many people in their planning is they underestimate how much time things will take and then they get frustrated and behind when a more realistic estimation would have prevented this problem. It’s called trying to be a “time hero.” So I want you to be as accurate as you can in predicting the time each task will take, and then I want you to be as accurate as you can in actually measuring how much time each does take. Try to become so accurate that by the end of the week you can guess within 15 minutes each task’s duration to complete.
This week, I want you to focus on an ideal rather than practice a particular set of behaviors. Kindness means essentially that you treat every person as an opportunity to give. As with any virtue, kindness is more than simply not being mean. The beginning of this task is for you to refrain from saying hurtful things to people, whether they are there in front of you or absent. (Gossip is inherently unkind.) Learning to keep your mouth shut when you might feel like saying something, even making a rude joke, about someone is perhaps going to be a challenge for some of you. But kindness is more than just such restraint. Kindness means actually going out of your way to give people something valuable: encouragement, thanks, a smile, a compliment, holding a door open, letting someone go first, etc. Kindness, therefore, is active. “Appreciate” as a word means “to cause to have increased value.”
One time I saw one of those “Instruction Book” type lists and it said, “Leave every situation a little better than you found it.” For this exercise, I have modified this to say, “Leave every person you meet a little better than you found him or her.” Every person on the planet is built to need other people. Go ahead and give them something that will satisfy that need a little bit. Who can you do this for? Any human qualifies: parents, siblings, strangers, cafeteria workers, waiters, grocery checkers, teachers, janitors, police, etc. In fact, part of the fun of this experiment is to go out of your way to not let anyone pass by you without giving them some kindness. We in this society have a habit of ignoring each other. For one week, simply strive to notice other people more and bless them somehow in little ways. Here is a good goal to have: give at least three people a day a compliment. At least one of them has to be to a stranger. This is the easy part of the exercise.
The harder part of this exercise involves something completely intangible: your thoughts. It is a very good thing to speak kindly and to act kindly towards other people. But the real trick to loving people is to learn to think kindly toward them. Remember, every behavior ultimately starts as a thought. It is far easier to treat people well when you think well of them. In our society, coarseness is the rule of the day. We routinely mock people in our heads and even out loud. I am encouraging you to learn to be judgmental in a favorable way on purpose as an exercise in controlling your own thoughts. Try to do more than simply not think bad (remember, the mind does not perform negation well), instead actively steer your mind in the direction of thinking good of people. Find something about them that you can admire or value.
Every person has value. Think of this exercise as attempting to see that value in each of them. If it helps, try to think of what their parents love about them, or their children, or spouse, etc. I try to consider what God made them for and what He sees of value in them, since He always sees not only who you are but who you can be as well. So I try to see and treat people according to best person I think they can be, in part by imparting this vision to them and in part by expecting and encouraging them to live up to it. As you do this, pay attention to yourself, your thoughts, how others respond to you, and how easy or difficult it is to be kind to people in your mind and then out loud in behavior and speech.
Another aspect of kindness is sensitivity or becoming aware and considerate of how others are doing emotionally. If you don’t normally do so, try asking people around you how they feel, and don’t take “okay” for an answer. Kindness often means learning to listen intently to people. Simply caring enough to pay attention to their emotional needs will be very meaningful to many people, especially women. Although some people will try to not reveal how they are feeling, it is also worth noting that some people are simply doing all right, and some are so out of touch with their own emotions that they can’t describe them. Remember, the idea is to be aware, not to invade or offend.
Ethics Experiment 6—Productivity (Write-up due 10/14 by 5:00)
In the 1950s, there once was a businessman who had a time management expert in to help him in his efforts. I forget the man’s name and the company, but it’s a true story as far as I know. The advisor gave him one simple formula to implement and told the man to send him a check for however much money he thought the suggestion was worth after he tried it for a few weeks. After about a month, the businessman sent the expert a check for $25,000. I want you to try doing the suggestion for one week, but with a slight twist.
Each night, make a list of the six most important things you must do the next day. Then number them in their order of importance. The next day, start on task one, and work on it until you finish it. Cross it off. Then start task 2, and work on it until you finish it. Cross it off. Continue until you either run out of day or run out of tasks. Then that night, repeat the exercise. Don’t worry too much if you don’t finish all the items every day. You will do more than you would have otherwise, and if you couldn’t do them all by this method, you couldn’t have done them all by any other method either.
My addition to the procedure is to make a prediction of how much time each task will take you. One of the great downfalls of many people in their planning is they underestimate how much time things will take and then they get frustrated and behind when a more realistic estimation would have prevented this problem. It’s called trying to be a “time hero.” So I want you to be as accurate as you can in predicting the time each task will take, and then I want you to be as accurate as you can in actually measuring how much time each does take. Try to become so accurate that by the end of the week you can guess within 15 minutes each task’s duration to complete.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Procedural Note
There are three new posts today, one with the next two weeks of ethics experiments and then homework 11 and the previously unposted homework 10. 11 is for next week, but 10 should have been for today, and it's my fault I forgot to post it. You can do it, but obviously not for credit.
Ethics Experiments 3 and 4
Ethics Experiment 3—Study (Write-up due 9/23 by 5:00 PM)
It has been my experience that one of the things school often does to people is completely destroy in them any desire to learn after they have survived their formal education. I cannot count how many times I have heard people say, “I hope I never have to read another book again after I graduate.” This attitude is quite sad and yet tragically common.
This week, I want you to experience the pleasure of learning something for the sake of your own desire to know it. If you develop this habit now while you are in school, you will be less likely to suffer from the anti-educational disease so many people develop when they are no longer coerced into learning. Life is much more fun when we are growing, even if the thing we are growing in isn’t earth-shatteringly important. We were built to learn and grow, and learning people are usually more alive and excited than others. Consider children when they are learning.
This week, I want you to take fifteen minutes each day and read something educational that you have always wanted to learn about but kept putting off until you had “more free time.” (This usually happens when there are suddenly 25 hours in the day. In other words, never.) Find a book you have been wanting to read and just read it for fifteen minutes a day this week. Don’t worry if you don’t finish it, you probably won’t. The key is a book, not the Internet, not magazines, not the newspaper. Books.
I have heard it said from so many different people that I can’t even number them that leaders are readers. Studies have been done on vocabulary in various organizations, and these studies prove that there is a direct relationship between a person’s language ability and his success and position. The best way to develop vocabulary and be learning neat stuff at the same time is to read.
Many of you are religious. If you have never read your religion’s Scriptures, I recommend you start there. If you aren’t or don’t want to do that for whatever reason, just go to the library and browse the new releases section for something that captures your interest (non-fiction). If you read that book for fifteen minutes and you decide it isn’t very interesting, grab a different one the next day. As long as you are reading something of your choice, that’s enough. I realize that 15 minutes may seem like a lot, but for those of you who watch television regularly…duh! For the rest of you, just make the time.
Ethics Experiment 4—Service (Write-up due by 5:00 PM 9/30)
This week, you get to be Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. I have always thought that the Scout Slogan of “Do a good turn daily” was an outstanding idea. As my copy of the Scout Handbook says, “Good turns are helpful acts of kindness done quietly, without boasting, and without expecting a reward or pay. Doing at least one Good Turn every day is a normal part of a Scout’s life.”
The idea here is to give a gift of service to at least one person a day. There are millions of possible ways to satisfy this, but I recommend you shoot for more than just holding open a door for someone or giving them a smile. These things are good and you should not neglect to do them if you can, but this week try to do things which are somewhat more significant.
Here are some suggestions, but don’t feel limited to this list in any way: offering to help your parents cook dinner or to do it entirely, paying for the person behind you at McDonalds (or giving five dollars extra at the grocery store for the person behind you), offering to wash someone else’s windshield at the gas station, giving your parents a back rub, cleaning someone else’s car, or helping someone with their groceries (especially if it’s raining).
If all else fails, you can always find someone and simply ask him or her if there is something you can do to help. If it helps, you can even tell them why you’re asking. “I’ve got this weird class I’m taking where I’m supposed to do a nice thing for someone every day. Is there anything I can do like that for you?” Ask your parents if there are any extra chores you can help out with or projects that won’t take too long or can be done over several days. However, I strongly encourage you to try to get a nice mixture of friends and strangers involved in this experiment. Don’t only serve people you know. If you do serve people you already know, be sure to do it in a way that they desire rather than in a way you desire. Give the gift they want to receive rather than the gift you want to give. “Do unto others as they want you to do unto them.”
A key component of service is humility, because the idea of real service is that you are saying to someone else, “I’m not too good or too important to serve you.” This is why a lot of service acts are doing the things that no one much likes to do but must be done. (Cleaning bathrooms, changing diapers, doing dishes, etc.) Since genuine service goes hand in hand with humility and generosity, it is crucial that the server not expect or accept any reward or recognition for the service. This is why it’s good to serve strangers who can’t reward you later in the relationship. If you find yourself resenting people who aren’t more lavish with their thanks, you’re missing the point of the entire exercise. But don’t be surprised if most people are rather stunned in a pleasant way. As always, have fun and enjoy the creativity which this experiment may require of you.
It has been my experience that one of the things school often does to people is completely destroy in them any desire to learn after they have survived their formal education. I cannot count how many times I have heard people say, “I hope I never have to read another book again after I graduate.” This attitude is quite sad and yet tragically common.
This week, I want you to experience the pleasure of learning something for the sake of your own desire to know it. If you develop this habit now while you are in school, you will be less likely to suffer from the anti-educational disease so many people develop when they are no longer coerced into learning. Life is much more fun when we are growing, even if the thing we are growing in isn’t earth-shatteringly important. We were built to learn and grow, and learning people are usually more alive and excited than others. Consider children when they are learning.
This week, I want you to take fifteen minutes each day and read something educational that you have always wanted to learn about but kept putting off until you had “more free time.” (This usually happens when there are suddenly 25 hours in the day. In other words, never.) Find a book you have been wanting to read and just read it for fifteen minutes a day this week. Don’t worry if you don’t finish it, you probably won’t. The key is a book, not the Internet, not magazines, not the newspaper. Books.
I have heard it said from so many different people that I can’t even number them that leaders are readers. Studies have been done on vocabulary in various organizations, and these studies prove that there is a direct relationship between a person’s language ability and his success and position. The best way to develop vocabulary and be learning neat stuff at the same time is to read.
Many of you are religious. If you have never read your religion’s Scriptures, I recommend you start there. If you aren’t or don’t want to do that for whatever reason, just go to the library and browse the new releases section for something that captures your interest (non-fiction). If you read that book for fifteen minutes and you decide it isn’t very interesting, grab a different one the next day. As long as you are reading something of your choice, that’s enough. I realize that 15 minutes may seem like a lot, but for those of you who watch television regularly…duh! For the rest of you, just make the time.
Ethics Experiment 4—Service (Write-up due by 5:00 PM 9/30)
This week, you get to be Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. I have always thought that the Scout Slogan of “Do a good turn daily” was an outstanding idea. As my copy of the Scout Handbook says, “Good turns are helpful acts of kindness done quietly, without boasting, and without expecting a reward or pay. Doing at least one Good Turn every day is a normal part of a Scout’s life.”
The idea here is to give a gift of service to at least one person a day. There are millions of possible ways to satisfy this, but I recommend you shoot for more than just holding open a door for someone or giving them a smile. These things are good and you should not neglect to do them if you can, but this week try to do things which are somewhat more significant.
Here are some suggestions, but don’t feel limited to this list in any way: offering to help your parents cook dinner or to do it entirely, paying for the person behind you at McDonalds (or giving five dollars extra at the grocery store for the person behind you), offering to wash someone else’s windshield at the gas station, giving your parents a back rub, cleaning someone else’s car, or helping someone with their groceries (especially if it’s raining).
If all else fails, you can always find someone and simply ask him or her if there is something you can do to help. If it helps, you can even tell them why you’re asking. “I’ve got this weird class I’m taking where I’m supposed to do a nice thing for someone every day. Is there anything I can do like that for you?” Ask your parents if there are any extra chores you can help out with or projects that won’t take too long or can be done over several days. However, I strongly encourage you to try to get a nice mixture of friends and strangers involved in this experiment. Don’t only serve people you know. If you do serve people you already know, be sure to do it in a way that they desire rather than in a way you desire. Give the gift they want to receive rather than the gift you want to give. “Do unto others as they want you to do unto them.”
A key component of service is humility, because the idea of real service is that you are saying to someone else, “I’m not too good or too important to serve you.” This is why a lot of service acts are doing the things that no one much likes to do but must be done. (Cleaning bathrooms, changing diapers, doing dishes, etc.) Since genuine service goes hand in hand with humility and generosity, it is crucial that the server not expect or accept any reward or recognition for the service. This is why it’s good to serve strangers who can’t reward you later in the relationship. If you find yourself resenting people who aren’t more lavish with their thanks, you’re missing the point of the entire exercise. But don’t be surprised if most people are rather stunned in a pleasant way. As always, have fun and enjoy the creativity which this experiment may require of you.
Homework 12 ((Due 9/21/09 by 5:00 PM) (Four Points)
Part 1: Rights Theory
A relatively new idea in the history of ethics is that morality can be described completely by enumerating the rights of human beings and then acting so that those right are maximized. You should all be familiar with this theory since it was a major component in the founding of our country. We actually have in our Constitution a specific list of such rights and the statement that “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” (Amendment 9) Our government is designed around the idea that justice is the situation which obtains when people have the maximum protection of their rights.
Instead of explaining how Rights Theory works, I want you to consider the following list of rights and evaluate how much in agreement you are that these are fundamental human rights. I also want you to describe the source of each of these rights.
Below is a list of candidates for rights and duties. On a scale of 1-5, how would you rank each of them. After ranking them, list from where you think that right or duty comes.
Rights
5 = Fundamental right
4 = Important right
3 = Generally a right
2 = Occasionally a right
1 = Not a right
Rights
1. To life
2. To liberty
3. To property
4. To worship according to your conscience
5. To own firearms
6. To free speech
7. To a job
8. To adequate medical care
9. To an education
10. To choose your own spouse
11. To have sex before marriage
12. To defend yourself if attacked
13. To enjoy sexual pleasure as you prefer.
14. To spank your children
Part 2
Answer the following questions.
15. Is the right to life violated by capital punishment? Why?
16. Is the right to liberty violated by mandatory school attendance? Why?
17. Is the right to property violated by income taxes? Why?
18. Is the right to pursuit of happiness violated by drug regulations? Why?
19. If someone else doesn’t think you have the right, do you still have it? Why?
20. When you say, “It’s my right to do this thing,” are you saying that it is excellent? Why?
21. Where do the rights in the Constitution come from?
22. If someone is being oppressed (perhaps he is prevented from speaking his mind), do we say he has no free speech rights or do we say that his free speech rights are being violated?
Part 3: Questions
Remember, yes and no are not sufficient answers to any of these questions. Explain yourself.
1. If you give bad people a lot of freedom, what happens? If you give good people a lot of freedom, what happens? What does our system of government presume about people?
2. What is the relationship between the size of a government and the morality of the people it governs?
3. What does the term “politically liberal” mean to you? Be specific.
4. What does the term “politically conservative” mean to you? Be specific.
5. If you wanted to take a free country like America and transform it into a tyranny, how might fear and the desire for security be of use to you?
6. If one of the principle founding ideals of our country is the right to property, how can we justify taxation? Does it make a difference if the benefit for the program comes back to the person himself or not?
7. Why might someone claim that winning the lottery or suing a rich person are both immoral ways to get rich?
8. Why is it important that the people who make the laws be required to live by those same laws?
9. Should people who do not have to pay a tax get to vote to impose that tax on other people? (i.e. Should poor people be able to tax the wealthy? Should non-landowners be able to levy property taxes?)
10. Is it more important to the stability of a society that its justice system arrive at the correct answers (innocent or guilty) or that the people believe in the process by which those answers are arrived at?
11. If people believe they will not and cannot be treated justly, how will they behave? (Consider how act when their boss does not treat them fairly.)
12. If something has been done a certain way for a long time, should we tend to leave such a tradition as it is or should we tend to try to change it?
13. Is it good to give money to charity? Is it okay to coerce someone by force to give money to a charitable cause?
14. Why might it be important that the people who make the laws be required to live by those same laws?
15. Which kind of person most often is heard demanding more freedom: morally mature or immature people?
16. What is the purpose of having a civil government? Is there anything it must do, should do, can do, cannot do?
A relatively new idea in the history of ethics is that morality can be described completely by enumerating the rights of human beings and then acting so that those right are maximized. You should all be familiar with this theory since it was a major component in the founding of our country. We actually have in our Constitution a specific list of such rights and the statement that “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” (Amendment 9) Our government is designed around the idea that justice is the situation which obtains when people have the maximum protection of their rights.
Instead of explaining how Rights Theory works, I want you to consider the following list of rights and evaluate how much in agreement you are that these are fundamental human rights. I also want you to describe the source of each of these rights.
Below is a list of candidates for rights and duties. On a scale of 1-5, how would you rank each of them. After ranking them, list from where you think that right or duty comes.
Rights
5 = Fundamental right
4 = Important right
3 = Generally a right
2 = Occasionally a right
1 = Not a right
Rights
1. To life
2. To liberty
3. To property
4. To worship according to your conscience
5. To own firearms
6. To free speech
7. To a job
8. To adequate medical care
9. To an education
10. To choose your own spouse
11. To have sex before marriage
12. To defend yourself if attacked
13. To enjoy sexual pleasure as you prefer.
14. To spank your children
Part 2
Answer the following questions.
15. Is the right to life violated by capital punishment? Why?
16. Is the right to liberty violated by mandatory school attendance? Why?
17. Is the right to property violated by income taxes? Why?
18. Is the right to pursuit of happiness violated by drug regulations? Why?
19. If someone else doesn’t think you have the right, do you still have it? Why?
20. When you say, “It’s my right to do this thing,” are you saying that it is excellent? Why?
21. Where do the rights in the Constitution come from?
22. If someone is being oppressed (perhaps he is prevented from speaking his mind), do we say he has no free speech rights or do we say that his free speech rights are being violated?
Part 3: Questions
Remember, yes and no are not sufficient answers to any of these questions. Explain yourself.
1. If you give bad people a lot of freedom, what happens? If you give good people a lot of freedom, what happens? What does our system of government presume about people?
2. What is the relationship between the size of a government and the morality of the people it governs?
3. What does the term “politically liberal” mean to you? Be specific.
4. What does the term “politically conservative” mean to you? Be specific.
5. If you wanted to take a free country like America and transform it into a tyranny, how might fear and the desire for security be of use to you?
6. If one of the principle founding ideals of our country is the right to property, how can we justify taxation? Does it make a difference if the benefit for the program comes back to the person himself or not?
7. Why might someone claim that winning the lottery or suing a rich person are both immoral ways to get rich?
8. Why is it important that the people who make the laws be required to live by those same laws?
9. Should people who do not have to pay a tax get to vote to impose that tax on other people? (i.e. Should poor people be able to tax the wealthy? Should non-landowners be able to levy property taxes?)
10. Is it more important to the stability of a society that its justice system arrive at the correct answers (innocent or guilty) or that the people believe in the process by which those answers are arrived at?
11. If people believe they will not and cannot be treated justly, how will they behave? (Consider how act when their boss does not treat them fairly.)
12. If something has been done a certain way for a long time, should we tend to leave such a tradition as it is or should we tend to try to change it?
13. Is it good to give money to charity? Is it okay to coerce someone by force to give money to a charitable cause?
14. Why might it be important that the people who make the laws be required to live by those same laws?
15. Which kind of person most often is heard demanding more freedom: morally mature or immature people?
16. What is the purpose of having a civil government? Is there anything it must do, should do, can do, cannot do?
Homework 11 (For informational purposes only) (No Points)
Part 1: Divine Command Theory
Divine Command Theory is a deontological theory which clearly comes from the position that religion is necessary for morality. In fact, Divine Command Theory looks at the world as being the property of the Creator who made it. This Divine source, or God, has ownership by being the Creator. Therefore, He has authority to set the rules for our lives. Instead of us owning ourselves, as many people think, we are actually the subjects or property of God and, therefore, have a duty to live our lives in accordance with His Will. We have the freedom to obey or disobey, but we do not have the freedom to set the standards which define the concepts of obedience and disobedience themselves.
Divine Command Theorists differ over details, but one position held by many Christians is that there is more to morality than simply obeying God’s commands. This position actually believes that man was never meant to operate apart from constant guidance from God. Therefore, even though a person might happen to be operating according to God’s edicts, he is not morally good unless he is doing so by the constant guidance of God Himself. Here, morality becomes more than simply a matter of behavior, but a matter of behavior and relationship both.
Of course, the natural question which arises is, “Which God and how do we know which set of rules?” Most Divine Command Theorists will claim there is some set of sacred writings and/or a group of people who are so closely in touch with God that they are authorized to speak for Him. By looking to writings/people such as the Bible, the Koran, or the Holy Catholic Church, or even a combination of sources, we can know how we ought to live. For example, according to the Bible, when God wrote the Ten Commandments in the tablets of stone on Mt. Sinai, He made it clear to us that we should not worship idols or covet our neighbors property, among other things. Anyone who does these things is violating the Will of God and is behaving immorally. However, such rules can change or be modified pending new dictates from God Himself.
Plato gave an objection against Divine Command Theory which has troubled many people. Since God is the owner and sets all the standards for morality, there seems to be a strange paradox or dilemma which the Divine Command Theory advocate finds himself caught in. On the one hand, whatever God says is right. Therefore, presumably, if God were to say it is good to rape, it would be. That seems to be a rather unpleasant conclusion. On the other hand, perhaps God cannot say it is okay to rape because there are certain principles in the universe which are independent of God that even He cannot break. If this is the case, then we should be looking for those principles rather than and regardless of God’s Will. We seem to either run the risk of not knowing anything for sure from day to day (since God could change His mind tomorrow) or else God becomes superfluous to the theory. Plato posed the question as, “Are things good because the gods command them, or do the gods command them because they are good?” Either answer seems problematic.
1-6. Answer the questions from above.
7. Does Plato’s objection compel us to discard Divine Command Theory as a serious option?
8. With so many conflicting religions in the world, is Divine Command Theory a useful theory?
Part 2: Natural Law Theory
Natural Law Theory has arisen primarily within the Catholic tradition as a response to Plato’s objections to Divine Command Theory. Natural Law Theory says that God made the universe with certain rules. Many of these rules can be discerned by scientific experiment through experience because they deal with the physical universe. Gravity and Conservation of Mass/Energy are two simple examples. Unlike physical rules, moral rules are not so easily tested. However, they are every bit as real as the physical rules and they, too, were created by God when He fashioned the universe. Since they are not so easy to discover, God has revealed them to us, again, through some combination of people and writings over time. Once God has said that something is wrong, He is bound by His own character not to change His Word. Therefore, since the Ten Commandments say murder is wrong, it is. Just as there are no exceptions to the law of gravity, there are no genuine exceptions to Natural Law Theory because all the rules are already there to establish what is right and wrong. When rules come into conflict with each other, there is a hierarchy to decide which to follow. Things fly not because gravity is not there. They fly because other laws of the physical universe overcome gravity. Similarly, things that seem like exceptions are merely the result of applying the most important or relevant Natural Law but then seeing that this appears to violate some other, less important or less relevant, Natural Law. Unlike Divine Command Theory, Natural Law Theory says that morality is entirely a matter of being in accord with God’s unchanging rules. Even an atheist might be moral, just as an atheist might understand the law of gravity, regardless of his beliefs about Who put it there. Thus, Natural Law Theory has the unique appeal of allowing for God (as Source of the rules) but does not necessarily require talking about Him.
1-6. Answer the questions from above.
7. Can God work miracles which violate the very rules of the physical universe He created?
8. Is there such a thing as a moral miracle?
9. Can God change His mind about something without compromising His Character or Integrity?
Note on Ethical Theories: Choosing Your Own Ethical Theory
You have now read and we have discussed many of the traditional theories of ethics. After having done this, what conclusions have you drawn about what theory is the correct one? How do you decide right from wrong? Are your ethical conclusions binding on other people? On what foundation do you base moral criticisms of other people or cultures? Does morality change over time? When you are doing these criteria, you should consider these questions. You should also consider which theory is the right one and does the best job of explaining right and wrong. Do not simply choose a theory which “fits your ethical prejudices best.” Try to pick the one that makes the most sense and really works the best, even if it challenges some of your other beliefs. Also, you need to be specific about your theory. For instance, which version of Divine Command Theory might you follow specifically? There are many different ones, after all. The purpose of studying all of these theories is not so that you can simply become “more aware” of the options, but so that you may choose one and make at least a presumptive or provisional commitment to live your life by it.
Divine Command Theory is a deontological theory which clearly comes from the position that religion is necessary for morality. In fact, Divine Command Theory looks at the world as being the property of the Creator who made it. This Divine source, or God, has ownership by being the Creator. Therefore, He has authority to set the rules for our lives. Instead of us owning ourselves, as many people think, we are actually the subjects or property of God and, therefore, have a duty to live our lives in accordance with His Will. We have the freedom to obey or disobey, but we do not have the freedom to set the standards which define the concepts of obedience and disobedience themselves.
Divine Command Theorists differ over details, but one position held by many Christians is that there is more to morality than simply obeying God’s commands. This position actually believes that man was never meant to operate apart from constant guidance from God. Therefore, even though a person might happen to be operating according to God’s edicts, he is not morally good unless he is doing so by the constant guidance of God Himself. Here, morality becomes more than simply a matter of behavior, but a matter of behavior and relationship both.
Of course, the natural question which arises is, “Which God and how do we know which set of rules?” Most Divine Command Theorists will claim there is some set of sacred writings and/or a group of people who are so closely in touch with God that they are authorized to speak for Him. By looking to writings/people such as the Bible, the Koran, or the Holy Catholic Church, or even a combination of sources, we can know how we ought to live. For example, according to the Bible, when God wrote the Ten Commandments in the tablets of stone on Mt. Sinai, He made it clear to us that we should not worship idols or covet our neighbors property, among other things. Anyone who does these things is violating the Will of God and is behaving immorally. However, such rules can change or be modified pending new dictates from God Himself.
Plato gave an objection against Divine Command Theory which has troubled many people. Since God is the owner and sets all the standards for morality, there seems to be a strange paradox or dilemma which the Divine Command Theory advocate finds himself caught in. On the one hand, whatever God says is right. Therefore, presumably, if God were to say it is good to rape, it would be. That seems to be a rather unpleasant conclusion. On the other hand, perhaps God cannot say it is okay to rape because there are certain principles in the universe which are independent of God that even He cannot break. If this is the case, then we should be looking for those principles rather than and regardless of God’s Will. We seem to either run the risk of not knowing anything for sure from day to day (since God could change His mind tomorrow) or else God becomes superfluous to the theory. Plato posed the question as, “Are things good because the gods command them, or do the gods command them because they are good?” Either answer seems problematic.
1-6. Answer the questions from above.
7. Does Plato’s objection compel us to discard Divine Command Theory as a serious option?
8. With so many conflicting religions in the world, is Divine Command Theory a useful theory?
Part 2: Natural Law Theory
Natural Law Theory has arisen primarily within the Catholic tradition as a response to Plato’s objections to Divine Command Theory. Natural Law Theory says that God made the universe with certain rules. Many of these rules can be discerned by scientific experiment through experience because they deal with the physical universe. Gravity and Conservation of Mass/Energy are two simple examples. Unlike physical rules, moral rules are not so easily tested. However, they are every bit as real as the physical rules and they, too, were created by God when He fashioned the universe. Since they are not so easy to discover, God has revealed them to us, again, through some combination of people and writings over time. Once God has said that something is wrong, He is bound by His own character not to change His Word. Therefore, since the Ten Commandments say murder is wrong, it is. Just as there are no exceptions to the law of gravity, there are no genuine exceptions to Natural Law Theory because all the rules are already there to establish what is right and wrong. When rules come into conflict with each other, there is a hierarchy to decide which to follow. Things fly not because gravity is not there. They fly because other laws of the physical universe overcome gravity. Similarly, things that seem like exceptions are merely the result of applying the most important or relevant Natural Law but then seeing that this appears to violate some other, less important or less relevant, Natural Law. Unlike Divine Command Theory, Natural Law Theory says that morality is entirely a matter of being in accord with God’s unchanging rules. Even an atheist might be moral, just as an atheist might understand the law of gravity, regardless of his beliefs about Who put it there. Thus, Natural Law Theory has the unique appeal of allowing for God (as Source of the rules) but does not necessarily require talking about Him.
1-6. Answer the questions from above.
7. Can God work miracles which violate the very rules of the physical universe He created?
8. Is there such a thing as a moral miracle?
9. Can God change His mind about something without compromising His Character or Integrity?
Note on Ethical Theories: Choosing Your Own Ethical Theory
You have now read and we have discussed many of the traditional theories of ethics. After having done this, what conclusions have you drawn about what theory is the correct one? How do you decide right from wrong? Are your ethical conclusions binding on other people? On what foundation do you base moral criticisms of other people or cultures? Does morality change over time? When you are doing these criteria, you should consider these questions. You should also consider which theory is the right one and does the best job of explaining right and wrong. Do not simply choose a theory which “fits your ethical prejudices best.” Try to pick the one that makes the most sense and really works the best, even if it challenges some of your other beliefs. Also, you need to be specific about your theory. For instance, which version of Divine Command Theory might you follow specifically? There are many different ones, after all. The purpose of studying all of these theories is not so that you can simply become “more aware” of the options, but so that you may choose one and make at least a presumptive or provisional commitment to live your life by it.
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