...a group of people because they are pressured into believing that something is morally correct. Groupthink causes many to believe there are no alternative solutions in certain situation causing them to act in a certain way. It is most effective when a group has little or no outside influences on it and when the members of the group have similar backgrounds. Groupthink has a great number of symptoms, this include symptoms such as illusion of invulnerability, collective rationalization, belief in inherent morality, stereotyped views of out-groups, first pressure on dissenters, self-censorship and illusion of unanimity...
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...Shirley Jackson’s short stories The Lottery and The Summer People have many similarities. One of those similarities is the idea of mans inhumanity to man, which is prominent in both the short stories. The Lottery is the story of a village that takes part in the sacrifice of one of their neighbors. The Summer People, also set in a small village, follows the story of a group of villager’s who will go to any lengths to exclude two new members of their community. Both stories teach us about mans inhumanity to man. Learning about mans inhumanity to man is important in The Summer People and The Lottery because we see that the characters in each of the stories are willing to be inhumane in order to be accepted. In The Summer People Mrs. Martin, a “new comer” in the town, learns that Mr. and Mrs. Allison are staying on at the lake. As Mrs. Martin is new to the town she has probably been treated badly herself and realizes what will happen to the Allison’s but she does not stand up for them as she wants to be accepted in the town. She tells the Allison’s “I don’t guess anyone’s ever stayed so long before”. This shows that she feels hesitant about taking part in what will happen and almost wants to warn the Allison’s about what is going to happen but doesn’t because she wants to feel as if she is accepted in town. In The Lottery we also see this in Mrs. Hutchinson. The day of the lottery in the town is a very important day and not one someone would easily forget, but when Mrs...
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...“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is an excellent example of a symbolic and allegorical short story. This short story is about an annual lottery drawing at a small town in New England. The title itself holds a deep symbolism in this story. A lottery has always provided a sense of hope and adventure to people, but the lottery takes on an entirely different significance in this story. “The Lottery” in this story has been a tradition at this small rural town for many years. This tradition leaves painful death to a winner but the villagers never question to perform this horrible act of murder. The lottery is a symbol that represents as a barbaric and cruel symbol that results in the death of a friend, family, and neighbor. It is also an allegory showing that destructive effects can results from gambling. One of the allegory shows through the description of the characters. Names are used to represent different aspects and certain meaning throughout the story. One of the leaders and most important men of the town is Mr. Summers. Mr. Summers is a bright and cheerful man. His attitude, demeanor, and name represent the summer. He is the owner of coalmine. Coal suggests his ownership with evilness and death. He makes it a happy gathering, conducts all the town’s activities and then is also an executioner. Mr. Graves’s name represents what is about the happen. They are sending someone to their grave at the end of each lottery. His name is representing the irony of evil that implies, a...
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...devices in “The Lottery” Literary devices are specific language techniques that are used in a text to make it clearer. Shirley Jackson author of infamous horror story, “The Lottery”, uses five literary devices such as symbolism, allegory, foreshadowing, theme and irony. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. This literary device is used most often throughout the short story to keep the suspenseful ending a surprise rather than a shock. Three main symbols are used in this story, the title “The Lottery”, the black box, and stones. The reader can look at the “The Lottery” title itself to see it exemplifies symbolism. A lottery typically represents...
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...of a leader whose only true power is arbitrary? Shirley Jackson showcases the danger of blindly following tradition through her book The Lottery, showing that danger is never perceived by those who follow it unconditionally. The Lottery at the beginning of the story appears as if nothing is wrong, children play, wives are gossiping and men are playfully joking on an average day...
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...Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” reveals when she is chosen to be stoned to death. The lottery, a long tradition in the town...
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...word evil can have several different meanings, such as morally bad or wrong, the act of causing others to reevaluate their beliefs and assuming a completely new persona, or abusing an immense amount of power. One can only vaguely grasp the term evil given the definition of it. It takes one’s own experiences to thoroughly understand evil. Evil is when one purposefully outcasts a mass of people as a result of a common attribute. It is proceeding to do something immoral while recognizing its potential risks. Through the voice of Elaine Aron, Zimbardo claims that such qualities are embodied among ordinary people put under various pressures to create an evil situation. These traits repeatedly appear among characters in both American literature and history in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, and the events related to McCarthyism. Authority gives one the right the apparent right to demand obedience and expect the norm from “their people”. They are expected to use beneficial judgment and lead society forward and on the right path, but given power, leaders’ minds are tainted. People of authority are often given “responsible sounding roles such as “guardian,” “teacher,” [or] “defenders of the law” (Aron 4). This results in the manipulation of peoples’ minds as they tend to trust those with a name of great significance and respect. The society in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson often faces the challenging task of...
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...meant to prove, Lottery Case, other potential responses to Thomson Marquis: Future Like Ours Argument, No Future Objection, other potential objections Other Sexual Topics: Uniqueness View: There is a special distinct sexuality, Non-Uniqueness View: sex is just like every other human interaction NOT SPECIAL , Love Theory: Sex is only permissible when you love the person with whom you are having sex, too restrictive: there’s other legitimate reasons to have sex, too broad your children?, New Natural law: Sex must fulfill the “marital good”, you must always act in accord the certain basic goods, martial good; unitive- only fulfill unitive if it involves full giving of oneself to another, procreative-only if both partners are open to chance of reproduction Things that are wrong for NNL: premarital sex, contraception, oral anal, mutual (Masturbation) generic liberal understanding: in general sex is morally ok so long as everyone consents (voluntary, informed) and it does not involve great harm (there can be overriding factors), reasons to consider polygamy wrong: sex with a non spouse, tends to subject women, reasons to consider incest wrong: higher percent rate of birth defects, upsets familial bonds, reasons to consider bestiality wrong: animals can’t consent, diseases, reasons to consider adult-child sex wrong: cant consent (child) physical disparity issues, pregnancy, parent’s don’t have sex with child’s friends, reasons to consider necrophilia wrong: can’t consent...
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...Ethics & Gambling Matthew J. Nagle Sociology 120 Kathleen Marker 5/14/2013 The extent of gambling in our state has just exploded with all the casinos that are erected and functional across Pennsylvania. I can go to about six casinos with the closest being approx. three miles to an estimated sixty miles and that is just in the eastern part of the state. “Gambling has been a part of human culture since history was first recorded. It involves three elements: consideration, chance, and reward” (McAuliffe, 2006). I speak of this because after years of experience gambling legally and illegally, I still find myself in moral and ethical situation from time to time. Furthermore, I often wonder where the social and ethical responsibility lye, on the patron only or do we place some of the burden on the casinos and bookmakers. “Compulsive gambling is a serious disorder, as exhibited by extraordinarily high rates of suicide, severe depression, alcohol abuse, and crime” (Unknown). Understanding, that a casino has tracked, recorded your every move in and out, and, every monetary transaction you have attempted and completed in said casino. There must be an equal footing for each to accept responsibility for acting irresponsible. In my findings, I intend to reveal ethical issues related to problem gamblers, casino promotions, and enticements, overall ethical concerns involving both state and church, and finally, some examples to tie it all together. For now, let us look at how...
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...has been around since the beginning of recorded time. The Bible spoke of “casting lots”, a precursor to dice; and, since gambling is centered in covetousness and greed (two very big no-no’s, according to the good book), there is a strong moral stance against gambling. But gambling has always been around. Gambling was a popular pastime in America, even before the colonies were united. Dice and cards were brought over by both the Dutch and the English. Lotteries have been said to have paid for the settlement of Virginia, and the establishment of storied schools like Yale and Harvard. Most of the colonies used a type of lottery to pay for defenses. One clever New Yorker even designed a lottery where the prize was marriageable ladies, who couldn’t find husbands. The system listed the women in descending order from beauties, through pretty girls, widows, agreeables, good conditioned, housewives, friskies, special breeders and saints of the first magnitude. Just about every country-seat in colonial America had a lottery wheel. A lottery wheel was as necessary as a jail and a courthouse. (Evening Impendent, 1963) Other types of gambling existed, such as cockfighting. They even had a sport on which they wagered called bear-baiting, a very popular sport banned by the Puritans (Ortiz, p.4) When early church leaders sought to eliminate all forms of gambling, the Wild West gave gambling new life. Far away from both moral interference of reform groups in the East, as well as governmental...
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...Beneficial or Brutal: The Effects of the Death Penalty Do you think it’s fair for those to face the death sentence as a way of receiving justice? The death penalty has existed for over 200 years in our country, and is still active today. It is the practice of taking a wrong doers life as a form of just actions. Since the year 1976, it was calculated that 1,392 inmates were sentenced to death. Currently, there are 2,816 inmates waiting to meet their fate on death row, however, the death penalty is brutal and should no longer be used in the United States as a form of punishment. The first execution recorded in history relates back to Hammurabi’s Code that was enforced in 1792 until 1750 B.C. King Hammurabi’s words and/or motto was “An eye...
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...absolute monarchy and while this contrasts complexly with Locke’s philosophy, both have their pluses and minuses. Resulting, Man created a government based on Hobbes theory that man needed order to prevent crime and maintain order, which is accurately successful to a point. Clearly, man needed government to provide order. A downfall in this philosophy, however, is that everybody is not familiar with the bible, or even heard of God, so how could civilization in it’s entirety follow God’s moral laws, also known to some as the divine commandments, if they were oblivious to Him who had created the demands? This theory is proven in my answer above when I reference the fact God created us all with the preconceived ability to decipher right from wrong. This idea became known as the natural law theory. Our creator, God instilled an intuitive nature in His entire living creatures to seek out what He designed to be best for them, or to seek out the basic goods. Quizzically, our instincts show us the basic goods, and the reason that allows us to derive the natural law from them. Natural Law theory predicts that since something is a certain way that, in turn, means that it ought to be that way. This thought process is successful in theory under both philosophers as they each bring something of value to the table. Firmly, Hobbes provided protection and order in his theory and Locke enhanced that theory by allowing additional liberties, rights and freedoms. Out of necessity, Locke created...
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...Military Ethics Marvin J. Harris United States Army Sergeants Major Academy Department of Military History Class 64 SGM Rivera November 26, 2013 Abstract Since 1775, the birth of the United States Army, many men and women have served in the United States military. These individuals have given their lives in defense of democracy, both at home and abroad. The oath of enlistment these individuals took to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” is a major obligation. Whether it was through the draft or a voluntary commitment, these individuals are willing to give their lives in defense of their country. Along with their commitment to defense, these soldiers also committed themselves to be ethical professionals as well. The burden of being a member of the United States military is different than any other profession. Military members must maintain a high standard of ethics both on and off duty. Leaders in the United States military always enforce a high standard of both professionalism and ethics. Failure to maintain ethical standards and a high sense of professionalism may lead to a lack of trust within the command and the service. It may also lead to a lack of faith in the military by the general public. Ethics is the foundation that the United States military is built upon. Military Ethics Before a paper can be written on Military Ethics, one must define the following words: ethics, values and morals. Ethics are standards by which...
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...Military Ethics Marvin J. Harris United States Army Sergeants Major Academy Department of Military History Class 64 SGM Rivera November 26, 2013 Abstract Since 1775, the birth of the United States Army, many men and women have served in the United States military. These individuals have given their lives in defense of democracy, both at home and abroad. The oath of enlistment these individuals took to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” is a major obligation. Whether it was through the draft or a voluntary commitment, these individuals are willing to give their lives in defense of their country. Along with their commitment to defense, these soldiers also committed themselves to be ethical professionals as well. The burden of being a member of the United States military is different than any other profession. Military members must maintain a high standard of ethics both on and off duty. Leaders in the United States military always enforce a high standard of both professionalism and ethics. Failure to maintain ethical standards and a high sense of professionalism may lead to a lack of trust within the command and the service. It may also lead to a lack of faith in the military by the general public. Ethics is the foundation that the United States military is built upon. Military Ethics Before a paper can be written on Military Ethics, one must define the following words: ethics, values and morals. Ethics are standards by which...
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...contents critical thinking thinking critically about ethical issues 1 ETHICAL REASONING 3 2 VALUES-BASED ETHICAL REASONING 9 3 RIGHTS-BASED ETHICAL REASONING 15 4 CONSEQUENCE-BASED ETHICAL REASONING 20 5 ERRORS IN ETHICAL REASONING 25 5.1 THE IS/OUGHT FALLACY 25 5.2 THE ARBITRARY LINE FALLACY 27 REVIEW OF TERMS 29 THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT WHAT YOU SEE 29 THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT WHAT YOU HEAR 30 THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT WHAT YOU READ 30 THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT WHAT YOU WRITE 35 THINKING CRITICALLY WHEN YOU DISCUSS 36 REASONING TEST QUESTIONS 36 T H I N K I N G C R I T I C A L L Y A B O U T E T H I C A L I S S U E S We don’t cover any particular step or steps in this section—you can, and should, apply all of your critical thinking skills when you think about ethical issues (hence, the entire template is bolded)! Template for critical analysis of arguments 1. What’s the point (claim/opinion/conclusion)? s Look for subconclusions as well. 2. What are the reasons/what is the evidence? s s Articulate all unstated premises. Articulate connections. 3. What exactly is meant by . . .? s s s Define terms. Clarify all imprecise language. Eliminate or replace “loaded” language and other manipulations. 4. Assess the reasoning/evidence: s s If deductive, check for truth/acceptability and validity. If inductive, check for truth/acceptability...
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