Premium Essay

We Are Unjustified In Morality Analysis

Submitted By
Words 1142
Pages 5
However, I believe that Street’s claim that either realism is false or we are unjustified in our moral beliefs is unsound. Firstly, I wish to show that some moral beliefs are independent from the influences of evolution. From there, it does not necessarily follow from her argument that if moral beliefs are influenced by evolution and have no link with independent moral truths, realism is false and we are unjustified in our moral beliefs.

In the ancient Greek society, it was common for males to fall in love with one another for their wisdom. Back then, it was completely moral to do so. However, as society progressed, this phenomenon was considered to be immoral. People were condemned if they fell for the same sex and they were suppressed in …show more content…
For example, in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, when basic needs are fulfilled, other needs develop, such as the need for security and love (Zimbardo, Johnson and McCann, 2014, pp.416). When the community is no longer plagued by concerns for survival or reproductive success, it ceased to be the primary concern for the people. Other needs, such self-actualization, the highest need in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs developed (Zimbardo, Johnson and McCann, 2014, pp. 416). These higher needs are also essential for one’s desire to continue surviving and for reproductive success. Nonetheless, these needs only develop when the basic ones are fulfilled. When the basic needs are affected, evolution will shift its focus back on promoting moral beliefs that are in favor of the basic needs. During Socrates’ time, intellectual discussions were highly valued for the further progression of the society. Thus, evolution shaped moral beliefs that only males have the highest level of wisdom, and in turn approving same-sex love for the pursuit of wisdom and also self-actualization. However, in eras where there were constant wars, lack of stability in the society threatened the survival of the human species. Evolution hence indirectly influence moral beliefs to promote reproductive …show more content…
Through the process of evolution, the human species became more and more intellectual. Therefore, shouldn’t it be plausible for one to stand back and reflect on the moral beliefs? For example, the state tries to influence its citizens to have certain beliefs. But being born into the state does not entail that one is not capable of standing back and reflecting if he wants to support the beliefs or not. The North Koreans for example, are cut off from technologies and have not been under other regimes thus they have no standard to check if how their state governance is good or bad. Yet, most of them knew that it was bad despite being born into the system and beliefs of the nation. Hence, many made efforts to escape to other countries. Likewise, humans have the capacity to stand back and reflect too, even though the mind may be shaped by evolution. Evolutionists would have to bite the bullet and weaken their argument by agreeing that there are some external forces, such as the human psychology which override the influences of evolution in forming our moral

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Influence of Home Video on the Young Adults

...heritage; aside this, it has awaken in many youths the Nigerian culture that was once lost during the colonial period. There are also negative effects of home videos on audiences. However, there have been cases where home videos are criticized to the cause for some societal ills. Social critics, who believes in this school of thought says that some antisocial behaviours like violence and extravagant life that many films portrays in their content perceptibly affect the behavior of the audience. Nonetheless, all these sum up to mean that home videos have both positive and negative influences on youth morality, that is home videos positively or negatively affect the generally accepted moral standards from youths. Morality in behavior or virtuousness is the standards of conduct that are generally accepted as right or proper. The problem then is: how does home video influence morality? This is what the study seeks to provide answer for in this study...

Words: 13472 - Pages: 54

Premium Essay

“the Legal Protection of Intellectual Property Rights"

...The most extensive connotation of the word “property” is that which encompasses the entirety of the legal rights, whatever their nature may be, to which a person is considered entitled. Property is a very unique right to a particular object which may be enforced against the whole world. In other words a property right is binding in rem. William Blackstone famously defined the term property to mean the “sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any other individual in the universe. This application of the term property may be simplified by stating that property is a right which enables the person possessing such right to exclude the world at large from the exploitation of such right. 1.1 Theories of Property There is considerable literature on the theories of property. Some of the theories that have been developed are reproduced hereunder. The Occupation theory is one of the oldest theories and it is based on the assumption that whoever discovers something will be entitled to its ownership. In other words the right to property is based on the original discovery and occupation. The Labour theory of property as propounded by John Locke provides that if man adds labour to anything that has been provided by God it entitles him to that particular thing. The Philosophical theory of property according to this theory the institution of property lies in the well being of the community...

Words: 3279 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Fatwah on Banking

...FATWA ON BANKING AND THE USE OF INTEREST RECEIVED ON BANK DEPOSITS BY UMAR IBRAHIM VADILLO October 2006 FATWA Fatwa on Banking | The Use of Interest Received on Bank Deposits Table of Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................3 2. The Issue .............................................................................7 3. Understanding Riba ...........................................................10 3.1 A world shaped by Riba.................................................... 10 3.2 What is Riba? ................................................................. 11 4. The Misunderstanding of Riba............................................20 4.1. Religious reformism and capitalism ................................... 20 4.2 The Islamic Reformers ..................................................... 23 4.3 The followers of Reda ...................................................... 27 4.4 The misunderstanding of Riba an-nasiah today.................... 28 4.5 Equating Riba to interest in a loan ..................................... 33 4.6 Islamic Banking .............................................................. 34 4.6.1 Islamic Banks are banks ............................................. 34 4.6.2 Murabaha: what it is and what it is not ......................... 38 4.6.3 How the Islamic Bank’s version of the contract of Murabaha came into being ..............................................................

Words: 24329 - Pages: 98

Premium Essay

Gujurat Steel

...LegalCrystal - Indian Law Search Engine - www.legalcrystal.com Gujarat Steel Tubes Ltd. and Ors. Vs. Gujarat Steel Tubes Mazdoor Sabha and Ors. LegalCrystal Citation : legalcrystal.com/655678 Court : Supreme Decided On : 1979-11-19 Reported in : AIR1980SC1896; (1980)ILLJ137SC; (1980)2SCC593; [1980]2SCR146 Judge : A.D. Koshal,; D.A. Desai and; V.R. Krishna Iyer, JJ. Acts : Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946; Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 - Sections 10A, 11 and 11A Appeal No. : Civil Appeal Nos. 1212, 2089 and 2237 of 1978 Appellant : Gujarat Steel Tubes Ltd. and Ors. Respondent : Gujarat Steel Tubes Mazdoor Sabha and Ors. Advocate for Pet/Ap. : V.M. Tarkunde and; Y.S. Chitale, Advs Excerpt : [A.D. Koshal,; D.A. Desai and; V.R. Krishna Iyer, JJ.] The appellant manufactures steel tubes in the outskirts of Ahmedabad city. It started its business in 1960, went into production since 1964 and waggled from infancy to adulthood with smiling profits and growling workers, punctuated by smouldering demands, strikes and settlement until there brewed a confrontation culminating in a head-on collision following upon certain unhappy happenings. A total strike ensued whose chain reaction was a whole-sale termination of all employees followed by fresh recruitment of workmen defacto breakdown of the strike and dispute over restoration of the removed workmen. As per the last settlement between the management and the workmen of 4th August, 1972, it was not open to the workmen to resort...

Words: 38924 - Pages: 156

Premium Essay

Fatwah on Banking

...FATWA ON BANKING AND THE USE OF INTEREST RECEIVED ON BANK DEPOSITS BY UMAR IBRAHIM VADILLO October 2006 FATWA Fatwa on Banking | The Use of Interest Received on Bank Deposits Table of Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................3 2. The Issue .............................................................................7 3. Understanding Riba ...........................................................10 3.1 A world shaped by Riba.................................................... 10 3.2 What is Riba? ................................................................. 11 4. The Misunderstanding of Riba............................................20 4.1. Religious reformism and capitalism ................................... 20 4.2 The Islamic Reformers ..................................................... 23 4.3 The followers of Reda ...................................................... 27 4.4 The misunderstanding of Riba an-nasiah today.................... 28 4.5 Equating Riba to interest in a loan ..................................... 33 4.6 Islamic Banking .............................................................. 34 4.6.1 Islamic Banks are banks ............................................. 34 4.6.2 Murabaha: what it is and what it is not ......................... 38 4.6.3 How the Islamic Bank’s version of the contract of Murabaha came into being ..............................................................

Words: 24329 - Pages: 98

Premium Essay

Chapter Summaries

...CHAPTER SUMMARY – CHAPTER 1 – ETHICS IN THE WORLD OF BUSINESS Frequently, the ethically correct course of action is clear, and people in business act accordingly. Exceptions occur when there is uncertainty about ethical obligations in particular situations or when considerations of ethics come into conflict with the practical demands of business. In deciding on an ethical course of action, we can rely to some extent on the rules of right conduct that we employ in everyday life. However, business activity also has some features that might limit the applicability of our ordinary ethical views. One distinguishing feature of business is its economic character which can be summarized as the conduct of buyers and seller and employers and employees. A second distinguishing feature of business is that it typically takes place in organizations which is a hierarchical system of functionally defined positions designed to achieve some goal or set of goals. Because business involves economic relations and transactions that take place in markets and also in organizations, it raises ethical issues for which the ethics of everyday life has not prepared us. Decisions making occurs on several distinct levels: the level of the individual, the organization, and the business system. The level of the individual represents situations that confront them in the workplace and require them to make a decision about their own well-being. The level of the organization can be identified...

Words: 8804 - Pages: 36

Premium Essay

Engineering

...ENGINEERING ETHICS Concepts and Cases This page intentionally left blank F O U R T H ENGINEERING ETHICS Concepts and Cases g E D I T I O N CHARLES E. HARRIS Texas A&M University MICHAEL S. PRITCHARD Western Michigan University MICHAEL J. RABINS Texas A&M University Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases, Fourth Edition Charles E. Harris, Michael S. Pritchard, and Michael J. Rabins Acquisitions Editor: Worth Hawes Assistant Editor: Sarah Perkins Editorial Assistant: Daniel Vivacqua Technology Project Manager: Diane Akerman Marketing Manager: Christina Shea Marketing Assistant: Mary Anne Payumo Marketing Communications Manager: Tami Strang Project Manager, Editorial Production: Matt Ballantyne Creative Director: Rob Hugel Art Director: Cate Barr Print Buyer: Paula Vang Permissions Editor: Mardell Glinski-Schultz Production Service: Aaron Downey, Matrix Productions Inc. Copy Editor: Dan Hays Cover Designer: RHDG/Tim Heraldo Cover Image: SuperStock/Henry Beeker Compositor: International Typesetting and Composition  c 2009, 2005 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution,...

Words: 48169 - Pages: 193

Premium Essay

Humanvalues

...see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed over the house key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “it is my parting gift to you.” What a shock! What a Shame! If only he had known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he built none too well. (Modified from LIVING WITH HONOUR by SHIV KHERA) Do we find ourselves in similar situations as the carpenter? Moving through our work hours fast paced, driven to “get the job done”, without much thought to moral values. How do we regain our focus as individuals and organizations? This is the challenge for the employee and the employer. Ethics are fundamental standards of conduct by which we work as a professional. VALUES  Values are individual in nature.  Values are comprised of personal concepts of responsibility, entitlement and respect.  Values are shaped by personal experience, may change over the span of a lifetime and may be influenced by lessons learned.  Values may vary according to an individual‟s cultural, ethnic and/or faithbased background. “Never change your core values.” In spite of all the change...

Words: 25613 - Pages: 103

Premium Essay

Ethics

...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, relevance, and sufficiency. 5. How could the argument be strengthened? s s Provide additional reasons/evidence...

Words: 14346 - Pages: 58

Premium Essay

Q&a Jurisprudence

...R outledge Revision: Questions & Answers  Jurisprudence 2011–2012 Each Routledge Q&A contains approximately 50 questions on topics commonly found on exam papers, with answer plans and comprehensive suggested answers. Each book also offers valuable advice as to how to approach and tackle exam questions and how to focus your revision effectively. New Aim Higher and Common  Pitfalls boxes will also help you to identify how to go that little bit further in order to get the very best marks and highlight areas of confusion. And now there are further opportunities to hone and perfect your exam technique online. New editions publishing in 2011: Civil Liberties & Human Rights Commercial Law Company Law Constitutional & Administrative Law Contract Law Criminal Law Employment Law English Legal System Routledge Q&A series Equity & Trusts European Union Law Evidence Family Law Jurisprudence Land Law Medical Law Torts For a full listing, visit http://www.routledge.com/textbooks/revision R outledge Revision: Questions & Answers Jurisprudence 2011–2012 David Brooke Senior Lecturer in Law and Module Leader in Jurisprudence at Leeds Metropolitan University Fifth edition published 2011 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the U S A and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011...

Words: 105136 - Pages: 421

Premium Essay

M and M

...with the emergence of new forms of monopoly capitalism around the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century as one element in corporate strategies to create, organize and where possible control markets, especially for mass produced consumer goods. Mass production necessitated mass consumption, and this in turn required a certain homogenization of consumer tastes for final products. At its limit, this involved seeking to create ‘world cultural convergence’, to homogenize consumer tastes and engineer a ‘convergence of lifestyle, culture and behaviors among consumer segments across the world’.” What is ethics? Ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality, such as what the fundamental semantic, ontological, and epistemic nature of ethics or morality is (meta-ethics), how moral values should be determined (normative ethics), how a moral outcome can be achieved...

Words: 11766 - Pages: 48

Free Essay

Question on Happiness

...philosophy, Utilitarianism in particular; and (3) Current Quality-of-Life research in the rich welfare states. Printed reflections on all this contemplation now fill a hundred meters of bookshelves. This paper takes stock of the progress made on seven classical topics. Are we now any wiser? Or is Dodge (1930) right in his contention that “the theory of the happy life has remained on about the same level that the ancient Greeks left it”? This inventory will differ from the usual review articles. The focus will not be on current technical research issues, but rather on the broader questions that prompted the enquiry. Furthermore, the aim is not only to enumerate advances in understanding, but also to mark the blind spots. The following issues will be considered: 1. What is happiness? 2. Can happiness be measured? 3. Is unhappiness the rule? 4. How do people assess their happiness? 5. What conditions favour happiness? 6. Can happiness be promoted? 7. Should happiness be promoted? These scientific issues do not emerge in a social vacuum, but are rooted in broader moral and political debates. Questions 1 and 7 are part of an ongoing ethical discussion about value priorities. Which values should guide us? How should we rank values such as “wisdom”, “equality”, “justice”, “freedom” and “happiness”? Together with question 5, these issues also figure in the related political debates about socio-economic priorities. Should the emphasis be on national...

Words: 8033 - Pages: 33

Premium Essay

Business Ethics

...BUSINESS ETHICS 'COLLECTIVE ACTION PROBLEMS' IN PARTICULAR HOW MUCH RESPONSIBILITY DOES AN INDIVIDUAL MANAGER HAVE FOR THE ETHICAL CULTURE OF HIS/HER ORGANISATION? Ram Visvanathan Business Ethics May 28, 2014   Introduction. Ethics is very important for the prosperity of any organization. Every employee or stakeholder of an organization has got an important role to play in nurturing an ethical culture in an organization. This research paper discusses the level of responsibility that an individual manager has in the ethical culture of his or her organization. This is done with close attention to academic journals and research. The paper will derive its arguments from veteran theories like the Utilitarian and the Kantian theories. The paper will also relate its discussions with the case study about Enron a USA company that collapsed as a result of unethical behavior in the management.  Some of the components that will be highlighted in the paper include; the importance of an ethical culture in an organization, the dangers of lack of ethics in an organization and the strategies that can be used to promote ethics in an organization. Justification of the research. The study of the role of individual managers in the ethical culture of an organization is a justified venture. This is because of the increased calls for ethical behaviors in organizations. The expectations of the staff and the society at large on ethical behaviors have increased tremendously...

Words: 5413 - Pages: 22

Premium Essay

Financial Accounting

...1. Introduction: Financial accountancy (or financial accounting) is the field of accountancy concerned with the preparation of financial statements for decision makers, such as stockholders, suppliers, banks, employees, government agencies, owners and other stakeholders. Financial capital maintenance can be measured in either nominal monetary units or units of constant purchasing power. The central need for financial accounting is to reduce the various principal-agent problems, by measuring and monitoring the agents' performance and thereafter reporting the results to interested users. Financial accountancy is used to prepare accountancy data for people outside the organization or for those, who are not involved in the mundane administration of the company. Management accounting, provides accounting information to help managers make decisions to manage and enhance the business. In short, financial accounting is the process of sum-arising financial data, which is taken from an organization's accounting records and publishing it in the form of annual or quarterly reports, for the benefit of people outside the organization. Financial accountancy is governed not only by local standards but also by international accounting standard. 2. Role of Financial Accounting: • Financial accounting generates some key documents, which includes profit and loss account, patterning the method of business traded for a specific period and the balance sheet that provides a statement, showing mode...

Words: 7845 - Pages: 32

Free Essay

Compensatory Discrimination in Light of Theories of Justice

...------------------------------------------------- Compensatory Discrimination in Light of Theories Of Justice INTRODUCTION In a civilized social system, law plays not only the role of guarantor of justice equality and liberty, but also as a tool for attaining the ends of justice. In this respect the modern democratic state has to adopt objective standards to protect the human rights of its citizens. Equality is one among those cardinal human rights by which the State is mandated to treat the equals equally and unequal unequally when it distributes its own benefits to the people. But who are equals and who are unequal is a thorny issue, for the limited resources are much valuable and required by the various group of people and they have to be distributed justly and fairly. In the Indian constitutional scheme, it had been envisaged by the framers that there should be equality of opportunity is for all citizens in public employments and such equality of opportunity a fundamental right of the citizens’.At the same time, the need for some beneficial treatment to the weaker sections of the society was also enshrined with that right. What is the basis of distribution of societal resources to certain sections? The thrust of this Chapter goes with the following enquiry. Is there any jurisprudential foundation for protective discrimination? If so what is it? This aspect is assessed from the angle of different theories of justice viz., social justice, distributive justice, equality...

Words: 7969 - Pages: 32