... Peter Singer and Joseph DesJardins have some important discussion about decision-making. Even though they have different approaches in making decisions, both of their ideas focus on ethical choices. In Ivan Boesky’s Choice, Peter Singer mentioned ultimate choice and restricted choice. While restricted choices are made more often in daily life, ultimate choices are made when one is facing a decision that can benefit himself or can go against his ethical values. In my understanding, restricted choices are decisions that can be made without thinking critically or be done with some consideration. These choices are often made by a person’s interest. The decision, whether is good or bad, cannot affect the other’s interests. For example, a student chooses chemistry to study even though she doesn’t enjoy this subject. Although her decision might result in a lower grade in this course, it will not affect her classmates. On the other hand, ultimate choices are decisions that can affect not only a person’s interest, but also the others’. Unlike making restricted decisions, a person has to think critically and carefully before the ultimate decisions are made about the consequences. If a person respects his ethical values, it’s likely for him to make a good decision. If he decides to benefit himself, he might make a bad choice, and it might result in unpredicted consequences. For example, the same student who picked chemistry, and at this moment, she is having a really hard time. The first...
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...exercise class; there are many more important details about Buddhism and Hinduism we are misinformed about, Especially, the differences of these two religions. Since Buddhism evolved from Hinduism, they are very similar, but they are two different faiths, with different sets of beliefs and interpretations on life and enlightenment (the ultimate objective of both). It might be in our best interest to begin this discussion at the end, with enlightenment. This is the goal of both Hinduism and Buddhism. To be exact, enlightenment in its simplest definition, is the ultimate release from the cycle of samsara, or the cycle of birth, death and rebirth (Wagnu, 2001). In both faiths, every living spirit will eventually achieve this goal, even if it takes numerous reincarnations. In Hinduism, this goal is also called moksha , existence in the realm of the gods (Wagnu, 2001). However, in Buddhism enlightenment is called nirvana, and is a release from the cycle completely, not a deployment to the realm of gods. The sort of middle way between these two extremes is a belief held by Mahayana Buddhists, whom identify the Buddha in three bodies, one of which, the Ultimate Buddha underlies, the entire universe and is identified as nirvana itself (Wangu, 2002) (BUd). On this journey to moksha or nirvana, one creates karma for himself. Karma as it is understood in the modern world “what goes around comes around” is a valid way to simplify this belief of Buddhist and Hindu religion. Both define it...
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...had a great idea in relating a fantasy world with the real world that we live in day to day. Andrew Vachss wrote this comic based of the question of “why”. Why does evil exist to hurt the most innocent and helpless human of all, a child? He used one of the most famous and feared detective/vigilantys of the graphic world as a medium to reach people. He uses Batman to play the main hero, or “Warrior”, to fight his crime and to get a better understanding of mentality of a pedophile. I believe Andrew Vachss writes Batman: The Ultimate Evil based on a personal conviction to persecute the evil doers of child abuse. He writes about a taboo that not many people want to talk about and opens the eyes of his readers that it is an ongoing problem both in the fantasy and real world. He uses Batman’s personal experience of his parents’ abuse to pursue the enemy. Because Batman is a “good guy”, Andrew Vachss puts a twist to the story and has Batman’s sidekick, Rhama, commit murder for him as he sits at a distance and watches. I believe Andrew Vachss does this to continue the “good” character role of Batman. He relates the relationship of Batman and Rhama in the fantasy world to one taking out vengeance one a pedophile via a hit man in our real world. Andrew Vachss can relate to Batman as a detective himself. Andrew Vachss kept a journal of details within his life to create his work ethic that he has today and use it to help the helpless victims of child abuse. In Batman: The Ultimate Evil, Martha...
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...exercise class that makes you zen; there are many more important details about Buddhism and Hinduism we are misinformed about; especially, the differences of these two religions. Since Buddhism evolved from Hinduism, they are very similar, but they are two different faiths, with different sets of beliefs and interpretations on life and enlightenment (the ultimate objective of both). It might be in our best interest to begin this discussion at the end, with enlightenment. This is the goal of both Hinduism and Buddhism. To be exact, enlightenment in its simplest definition, is the ultimate release from the cycle of samsara, or the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. In both faiths, every living spirit will eventually achieve this goal, even if it takes numerous reincarnations. In Hinduism, this goal is also called moksha, liberation of the soul from suffering. However, in Buddhism enlightenment is called nirvana, and is a release from the cycle completely into a state of bliss. The sort of middle way between these two extremes is a belief held by Mahayana Buddhists, whom identify the Buddha in three bodies, one of which, the Ultimate Buddha underlies the entire universe and is identified as nirvana itself. On this journey to moksha or nirvana, one creates karma for ones-self. Karma as it is understood in the modern world “what goes around comes around” is a valid way to simplify this belief of Buddhist and Hindu religion. Both define it as “deeds that determine one’s position in...
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...get to understand Aristotle and his understandings I see that his whole perspective is that every human’s goal in life is to achieve ultimate happiness. Happiness is what all of our ultimate goals are, Aristotle saw it as a simple thing that could be in some cases hard to achieve because you have to bring into play pleasure as well. He insisted that at least minimum pleasure was required for ultimate happiness. Because although happiness is desired for itself it is not used to obtain the other aspects in life. The true meaning of life is reaching the ultimate happiness according to Aristotle. But how is this done? What happens if it’s not reached? According to Aristotle’s there are two dimensions in this process, of which is intellectual virtue and moral virtue. Intellectual virtue is defined as excellence of intelligence. In many cases intellectual virtue is seen as an acceptance of reality, but in a good way. It is something that is learned. A person with intellectual virtue is someone who is not tempted to do bad in society or harm anybody. They are here to do good and that is it, they see everything in a positive manner. A moral virtue is defined as excellence of character through choices. Moral virtue is an example of a person that makes good choices out of good faith. Now this does not mean a person that does favors but they end up being bad. It’s as if a mechanic were to fix your car for free and a couple of days later it all breaks down. Now the mechanic had good intentions...
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...aspects of Hinduism that are shared among the different sects are the belief in the three-in-one god known as “Brahman,” which consists of: Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the Preserver), and Shiva (the Destroyer). There are three gods that make up Brahman – Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Hindus also worship the “wives” of Shiva, such as Kali, or one of Vishnu’s ten incarnations (avatars). There are literally millions of Hindu gods and goddesses, by some counts, as many as 330 million! At the same time, Hinduism teaches that all living things are Brahman at their core. In other words, all living things are Brahman, or god. Hindus also uphold the ideas of karma, reincarnation, and nirvana. The laws of karma state that good begets good, and bad begets bad. Every action, thought, or decision one makes has consequences , either good or bad, that will return to each person in the present life, or in one yet to come. Reincarnation is known as the “transmigration of souls,” or...
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...Buddhism and Hinduism are two very comparable religions. One way that Buddhism and Hinduism are similar is that they both believe in a type of reincarnation. In Buddhism, reincarnation centers around their idea of Karma, which is the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, and is ultimately viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. This means that their actions have consequences. Every good thing a person does affects them in a positive way, and every bad thing a person does affects them in a negative way. As a person continues their lives making these choices, their Karma is always changing. According to Buddhism religion, followers of Buddhism continue to make these better choices, which in turn makes their Karma better, until they have reached the point that their mind becomes free and pure. This is when Buddhist reach the state of Nirvana, which is the ultimate happiness, and Buddhists lose their sense of self and become released from the cycle of rebirth. Nirvana is the ultimate goal of Buddhism, as their fluctuating Karma is their idea of rebirth or reincarnating, until they have reached their ultimate happiness in the state of Nirvana In Hinduism, the idea of reincarnation is more of the traditional cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Hindus believe that their souls are pure and everlasting, and what they do in one life directly correlates with what there next life will hold. A Hindu’s soul will reincarnate into a being repeatedly...
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...According to Thomas Hobbes in his book Leviathan, “The question who is the better man, has no place in the condition of meer Nature;…”(Hobbes XV.211). Hobbes established in his book that all men are equal in Nature; this is the ninth law and very important part of his political philosophy. Hobbes also reveals that his philosophy is significantly different than the writings of Aristotle. He challenges Aristotle’s views of the inequality of men, the good, and evil that controls man’s life. Hobbes would find that day’s society would view his ideal of the “ultimate government” as being liberal and not a complete representation of the United States’ ruling system. First of all, Thomas Hobbes’ ninth law of nature states that all men are created...
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...One of the things that can prove that you existed in the first place is death for all lives are bound to die. Time is inevitable and each second that passes by is one step closer to death. Just the same, every moment we live is the reality and every moment that passes by becomes part of the forgettable past. We do not own time but on the contrary, time owns us. Schopenhauer would argue that life is pointless, a meaningless journey with one final end which is to cease to exist. What would then be the ultimate purpose of life if we will all die in the end? Everything that we invested will be gone and everything we have built will be worthless? I would like to argue that it is not necessarily the end that matters the most but the journey. Dying in the end should not mean that we have to live our lives miserably. I believe that death and factitious freedom are deeply intertwined with the thesis question "Why did Jesus die on the cross?" In this paper, we carefully examine not just the father-son relationship between Jesus and God but Jesus as both God-Man through the hypostatic union (As given in the thesis question) , its relationship to people and the very purpose of His and generally an individual's death vis-a-vis human freedom. It is very difficult to try to elaborate this issue that has been going on for years without being theological. There is a gap between theology and philosophy in such a way that theology's main ingredients are faith and belief and philosophy is sheer...
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...and positivity and how it may affect them later on or even in another life. The basic idea of karma seems to pop up in a lot of places, for example it doesn’t matter how religious you are or even if you’re not a hindu, it’s the fascinating idea itself . Reincarnation is also a very captivating idea, “You were. You will be” the initiative of the natural process of recycling human energy through birth, growth, decay and death. Reasons for view: People may agree with my belief because if we chose to ignore the workings of karma, we tend to create many problems for ourselves. For example, if we like to have something expensive, but we cannot afford it, it becomes very tempting to steal. If we are smart enough, we may never be caught stealing. However, by stealing, (according to the law of karma) we create problematic situations for ourselves in the future, like poverty, or being the victim of robbers. Therefore, if we chose to ignore karma, the results of our actions will still haunt us. Another reason why I agree with karma is the idea of ultimate justice as everyone will harvest the results of their actions and even if karma would not exist, as long as I try to avoid negative actions, the world would be a better place to live in for everyone anyway. This thought of “Goodness is its own reward” it shows how sometimes being good will give you a reward itself through karma. The idea of ultimate justice shows how every action you take will count and everything is fair; this also...
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...Most people understand conscience as something which tells us right from wrong, it is generally seen as a moral faculty, sense or feeling which compels individuals to believe that particular activities are morally right or wrong. Many ethical debates have been addressed on whether conscience is innate or developed. When conscience is described as innate, it means that it is inborn within you. From a religious viewpoint, an innate conscience is one which is God given or the voice of reason as a moral guide to what is right and wrong, whereas if it is argued that the conscience is not innate then it is described as being learned or developed according to psychologists. If conscience is innate and God given then does that mean God has told people to act immorally? However if Conscience is not innate then the blame for people acting immorally is shifted to society. St Thomas Aquinas, Joseph Butler and Cardinal John Newman are key scholars who believe that conscience is innate and inborn within a person. Key scholars and psychologists who believe that conscience is not innate are Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Erich Fromm and Humanist. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) did not think of conscience as being the voice of God but as the natural ability of people to understand the difference between right and wrong. He believed that all people aim for what is good and try to avoid evil he called this the synderesis rule. Aquinas said that it was innate to seek good because sin is falling short...
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...main philosopher of Virtue Ethics is Aristotle. His theory was originally introduced in ancient Greek times. Aristotle was a great believer in virtues and the meaning of virtue to him meant being able to fulfil one's functions. Virtue ethics is not so much interested in the question 'What should I do?' but rather in the question 'what sort of person should I become?' It has more to do with character and the nature of what it is to be human, than with the rights and wrongs of actions. Instead of concentrating on what is the right thing to do, virtue ethics asks how you can be a better person. Aristotle says that those who do lead a virtuous life are very happy and have sense of well-being. Happiness is the ultimate goal for everyone in life. Aristotle's definition of happiness is, 'happiness is the activity of the soul in accord with perfect virtue'. To become a better person, we must practice virtuous acts regularly. After a while, these acts will become a habit and so the virtuous acts part of our every day life and the person will be leading a virtuous life. For example, if a singer practices singing everyday, they will become better at it and used to doing it. People who practice their virtues improve their skills and therefore becoming happier. According to Aristotle the person who struggles to acquire virtues is in the long run a better person and is much happier as they feel that they deserve that happiness...
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...The main sanction or penalty, therefore, for those who do not act in accordance with Utilitarian principles, will be the discontent of conscience. Feelings of obligation or duty are, whatever their source may be, normal parts of the human experience, and Mills is convinced that anyone who truly grasps the idea of utility for all will naturally embrace its precepts (31-32). He nonetheless suggests that nurture and education may be employed to encourage a sense of unity with others, going so far as to mention the potential of “this feeling of unity to be taught as a religion, and the whole force of education, of institutions, and of opinion directed, as it once was in the case of religion, to make every person grow up from infancy surrounded on all sides both by the profession and the practice of it” (33). The fourth chapter, entitled “Of What Sort of Proof the Principle of Utility Is Susceptible,” answers the question with the simple observation that people simply do pursue happiness. Some may also pursue virtue, but even then, it is part of...
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...wouldn’t create anything evil or do anything evil. Evil is although a corruption in the good created by the God. It is not anything that God created by itself but it is the beings who did corruption in the good, which leads that to evil. Evil and bad deeds...
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...Absolute (and all that) When dealing with the idea of The Absolute, an understanding of what exactly is meant by the word “absolute” would be helpful, for this, we will go to a long trusted source for information, the dictionary. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, the word “absolute” is defined in a number of ways: free from imperfection; free or relatively free from mixture; being , governed by, or characteristic of a ruler or authority completely free from constitutional or other restraint; having no restriction, exception, or qualification; independent of arbitrary standards of measurement; and perfectly embodying the nature of a thing, just to name a few. (Merriam-Webster) So to look at The Absolute, we are dealing with, according to Merriam Webster, an idea of freedom, purity, something set apart and seen as perfect, I would add and take liberty and say, an example of excellence untainted by anything, but does what Merriam-Webster say still bode well with how many World Religions defined or see The Absolute regarding their specific religion, that is what we intend to find out, The Absolute and all that. When religions speak of The Absolute, we would expectedly assume The Absolute of which they speak of is that of an Absolute Truth, some sort of cosmic truth, a universal truth, something without blemish, an essence or standard that is eternal, something unable to be changed, set apart by uniqueness, an idea of which there is no allowance for disagreement...
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