December 10, 2013

Course Evaluation

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Reflection Question 1:
Favorite Post:

I would have to say that my favorite posts most definitely come from my introduction posts because I got to talk about my goals in life, what makes me happy, and where my beliefs and values come from. If I had to narrow it down to one though my favorite post would be lesson two assignment three where we are required to talk about the rules and principles that we live by, what we consider good, whether we prefer happiness to duties, and one rule that we live by. I liked this post because it got me thinking about the principles that I follow and whether or not they are for my happiness or I just have these principles because I was brought up a certain way. The rule that I live by that I included in my post was don’t sweat the small stuff, everything is small stuff. I love this quote because it helps you to think about things on a bigger scale and keeps you more laid back about things.

https://mknight3blog.wordpress.com/2013/10/06/lesson-2-assignment-3/

Least Favorite post:

My least favorite post throughout the semester was lesson two assignment one where we talked about Kant and his philosophy. This was my least favorite post because it took me a while to understand what he was trying to get across. Kant was also the philosopher throughout the semester that I disagreed with the most. I could see what he was trying to say and thought it was interesting but in the end I didn’t really agree with him.

https://mknight3blog.wordpress.com/2013/10/06/lesson-2-assignment-1/

Most difficult post:

I would have to say that the most difficult post that I had to write about this semester was lesson five assignment two. I think this was the most difficult assignment for me to write because I do have mixed feelings about the topic and I didn’t want other people to think I was arrogant. I knew this was a sensitive topic for some people and I didn’t want to offend people with what I had to say so it made it difficult because I had to be careful with my words. This particular assignment was also difficult in the commenting part of things because I didn’t want to seem rude and to push my views on other people if we differed.

https://mknight3blog.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/lesson-5-assignment-1-2/

Post I learned the most from:

The post that I would say I learned the most from was the post on animal suffering. I learned the most from this post because it made me really think about the actions I take every day and the ways that they affect others. This post really made me consider the way I look at the world and more importantly the animals. I do eat meat and love to try new foods but that’s not to say I would try animals that I consider pets like a dog or a cat. This was such an interesting topic because although it taught me all about the pain and suffering these animals go through, I selfishly don’t want to change my ways.

https://mknight3blog.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/suffering/

Reflection Question 2:
Most interesting:

I would say the most interesting thing I’ve learned throughout this course would come from lesson 6 on our judgments of other cultures’ beliefs. I thought this was the most interesting because it makes you think that if people didn’t act upon their judgments of what other people consider right and wrong, there might not be so much chaos in the world. I think that it’s OK to judge people because your beliefs are different from theirs but we shouldn’t act upon them because we’re different to them too. Cultures have different beliefs because of their country and religion and the rules that govern them and we have to understand that we’re different too. My major is business and I plan on getting a job in marketing and I think I can apply this to my job because I will most likely be dealing with people from all around the world. When I deal with these people I can consider what I learned in this lesson and consider their beliefs before I deal with them so that I don’t offend them.

https://mknight3blog.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/lesson-6-assignment-1/

Reflection Question 3:

I do think that my moral viewpoint has changed throughout this class because of all of the philosophies I have learned and through reading what my classmates had to say. I have learned to think about my happiness as my ultimate goal in life and about the people that I affect to try and achieve this goal. I now think about the morals and views of other cultures and consider them when I encounter these people. I have been made to think about the people in my life and the ways that they affect me and the decisions that I make. Ultimately, this course has taught me to think about the many people in life and the different types of people I will meet and that I should consider all people’s beliefs.

Reflected 4:

I do not think I would change anything about this course because I think that this course and the way the teacher has set it up has taught us a lot about different ethical considerations that all tie together. I don’t think I would drop any topics or add any because I think that all of the topics were beneficial to my overall learning. I do think that at times it was a little tough to comment on other people’s posts because the posts were a little sensitive and I didn’t people to think I was forcing my views on them. However, it does make it easier that this class is offered online and in a blog form because it makes it a little easier to comment on people because confronting people face to face can be difficult. I will definitely recommend this class to other people because I think it is interesting and really makes you think about a lot of things. The way that the teacher tied in ethics and our views and different assignments made this class really interesting and really easy to be involved in.

December 10, 2013

Final Paper

emotions

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Moshin Hamid relates to many of the philosophies we’ve learned throughout the semester. Although happiness is the ultimate goal in life, some people fail to see what actually makes them happy. Our views of happiness are based off of our past experiences and how we interpret pleasure and pain. This book makes you believe that it is a self help book on how to get filthy rich when in fact it is the opposite. This book teaches you the value of happiness and the actions that lead you there.

 

Final Paper – Ethics

December 10, 2013

Final Project Part III

There are many situations in the book and many of the man’s actions that made me think about the different theories and philosophers we have learned about throughout this class. After reading the book the one philosopher that stuck in my head throughout the book was Aristotle. Aristotle believes that the ultimate goal in life is happiness and I think that is what Hamid tried to portray through the main character. The main character believes that if he can become this rich and successful man he will be happy. He ends up losing his friends throughout this journey and realizes that he is alone and unhappy. However, then he realizes that to be happy he doesn’t need to be super rich and he helps out people in need.

The other philosopher that stuck in my head throughout reading this book was Mills. Mills believed that there is no universal rule to which pleasure will be most gratifying for everyone. Past experiences and they way we apply emotion and reasoning to them determines our interpretations of pain and pleasure. For the man, his past experiences were growing up poor so his ultimate goal of pleasure would be becoming rich. I do agree with Mills that past experiences do determine your interpretations of pain and pleasure. However I think that the man’s situation is a little different. Although the man grows up as being poor, he thinks that once he becomes wealthy he will have happiness but as you continue to read the book, we understand that money doesn’t ultimately bring happiness.

The language style of this book is much different than any other book I’ve read. I love to read for pleasure and love to read romantic novels and especially love Nicholas Sparks’ books. However this book is much different because each chapter begins with the man giving a little bit of information on how to get rich and then going back to his story. I also didn’t expect this novel to be as descriptive as it was and when I first started reading it I thought it was a little bit too much. It is helpful to help you connect to the narrator and make you feel like you are in his shoes but I was taken back a little bit.

Thesis statement:

“The interpretation of pleasure and happiness varies from person to person depending on their experiences. Without realizing it, many of our ultimate goals are to be happy but we often don’t realize it at first. The ultimate goal of happiness often comes from the intangible things and the things that don’t have a price tag on them.”

December 9, 2013

Final Project Part II

Morally Right:

It was morally right for the man to take his family to the city with him.
It was morally right for the man to go home when his mother was sick and his sister was pregnant. Also going home to be with his mother and take care of her in her final days.
It was morally right for the man to use his contacts from when he was a man of power to help people without wanting anything in return.

Morally Wrong:

It was morally wrong for the doctor to give the mother fake treatment.
All of the lying, cheating, and stealing “you” committed to reach success was morally wrong.
It was morally wrong for the man to use his raise on himself rather than on his family.
It was morally wrong for the guard at the pretty girl’s hotel to make the man park in a secondary lot because of his class and not let him in because of the way he looks.
It was morally wrong for the man to marry his wife when he doesn’t love her unconditionally and has a relationship with the pretty girl.

Virtuous Characters:

I would say that the parents are virtuous characters because they are doing everything they can to give their children a better life.
I would also say that the ex-wife was a virtuous character because she stood by her husband and helped take care of him and helped him with his money issues.
The matriarch is also a virtuous character that helped pay for the mother’s medical bills when she got sick.

Non-virtuous characters:

I would say that the man is non-virtuous in a couple of ways like when he stole the DVD’s and when he doesn’t tell his family about his raise and uses it for himself. He also shouldn’t have married his wife when he doesn’t love her and shouldn’t have a relationship with the pretty girl.
The marketing manager is a non-virtuous character because he makes the pretty girl believe that by having sex with him she would become rich and successful.
The bureaucrat and business men aren’t virtuous because they take advantage of people for their own personal gains.

Pleasurable situations:

Moving into the city because they could be with their father and were excited for what the city had to offer.
Watching TV together as a family would be pleasurable.
The man going home when his mother was ill would cause the family pleasure knowing that he cared and especially the father.
The matriarch helping to pay the medical bills caused the family pleasure knowing that they didn’t have to worry about their mother having less than proper medical help because they couldn’t pay for it. This probably caused the matriarch pleasure too knowing that he gets to help a family in need.
The man receives pleasure when he helps people with his old contacts and doesn’t want anything in return because he knows he is doing a good thing.
The man dying probably caused him pleasure knowing that he would be reunited with the pretty girl.

Painful situations:

Teachers punishing the man for being smart must have caused him pain.
The man’s sister not being able to go to school and also having to marry someone she didn’t love caused he pain.
The pretty girl’s father caused her and her mother suffering through his gambling habits, alcoholism, and his lack of care for their family.
The students at the University who are allowed to cheat will end up suffering when they go into the real world because they won’t be able to cheat their way in the jobs they will have.
The mother’s death caused the family and especially the father to suffer.
The man’s wife suffers by being married to him because he doesn’t love her but she wants to stay committed to the marriage and later on to their son.
The pretty girl suffers from the pain of her cancer and eventually ends up dying. This also causes the man to suffer.

December 9, 2013

Final Project Part I

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Moshin Hamid was a lot different than what I expected it to be. At first I was a little confused as to where the story was going to go but then I saw the connections. It was interesting the way that Hamid considered this as a self help book but then actually talked about experiences from the narrator’s life. The part about this book I didn’t like was that Hamid tried to connect you to the book and the boy’s life but it was hard for me to relate. The book does explain how to get rich but one of the necessary points is moving to the city. The book was interesting but I’m not so sure I would recommend it to others.

I also thought it was interesting how many of the theories and philosophies we have learned throughout class had an impact on the way I thought about things as I was reading this book. For example, the boy thought that in order for him to be happy he had to be rich and successful. As he tries to do so he ends up mostly alone and also ends up losing his fortune. So it’s interesting to see the way I now think about the boy’s choices and decisions and relate them to our class.

December 4, 2013

Lesson 6 Assignment 2

I am American with a little bit of Irish and English in me because of my ancestors. My closets community consists of my family, friends, and the community in which I live. I think that my closets community has a big influence on my moral views and beliefs because my family has brought me up in a way for me to know which things are right and which things are wrong. My family is a big part of the person I am today and I appreciate everything they have done for me.

The three most important values I hold are respect, independence, and honesty. My value of respect has definitely come from the way my parents have brought me up. I have always been taught to respect the people around me and to treat people the way I would like to be treated. My value of independence also comes from the way my parents have brought me up. I started working at my first part time job at 14 years old and have been taught the value of the money I make. I started a savings account and put money into it every week I got my paycheck. Through the years my parents wanted me to realize the importance of having expenses and paying bills so I had a cell phone bill and then when I got a car I had to pay for that myself and also pay for my gas and car insurance. My parents have instilled in me that if I want something bad enough it is up to me to go get it. Lastly, my third most important value is honesty. I’ve always been taught that lying is a bad thing and that it is always better to tell the truth. I also group honesty into not cheating in school or activities and also not to take things that aren’t mine.

Throughout the semester we have learned a lot about different philosophies and theories, but the one I agree with most would be Aristotle’s view of the ultimate goal being happiness. I agree with him because I think that we are always working toward happiness in life and it often shapes the things that we do every day. For example, I want to work in the field of marketing and in order to get to my dream career I have done certain things like went to Worcester State, majored in business, and then have taken as many marketing courses as I can.

 

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I chose this picture because my family and my friends definitely shape the person I am today and they are what I consider my closets community. 

December 4, 2013

Lesson 6 Assignment 1

“Today we condemn ethnocentricism, the uncritical belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own culture, as a variety Of prejudice tantamount to racism and sexism. What is right in one culture may be wrong in another, what is good east of the river may be bad west of the same river, what is a virtue in one nation may be seen as a vice in another, so it behooves us not to judge others but to be tolerant of diversity.(Pojman, Louis)”

I chose this paragraph simply because I loved what it has to say. I think that what it is saying is that just because something is right for one culture doesn’t necessarily mean its right for another culture, but that doesn’t make it right for cultures to judge each other based on their beliefs. I think that this philosophy should be embraced all around the world because everyone would get along better and we wouldn’t have so much conflict and war.

I don’t agree with this statement because everyone is entitled to their own opinion and you have the right to evaluate what and who you want. However, I think that people shouldn’t act on these evaluations if it is going to create a problem like someone getting upset. I think that the arguments against subjectivism are very convincing. In the reading, Pojman talks about how if subjectivism exists then we can’t really say morality exists which I agree with. If we were to justify someone like Hitler who thinks it’s ok to brutalize people because it’s morally correct to him but it’s not to everyone else, then we wouldn’t really have morality. I also think that the arguments against conventional relativism are strong and convincing because the reading talks about how if different cultures follow their own moral values and disagree with other culture’s moral values then they shouldn’t be able to judge. However, what if judging is part of the culture’s values? Therefore, this wouldn’t work because you would have some cultures who wouldn’t act upon different beliefs and some who would.

I think that everyone is entitled to make moral judgments because we are all entitled to our own opinions. Certain cultures may not agree with other cultures moral values and that’s ok as long as they don’t act on those judgments. It is possible because we are all brought up to believe certain things are right and certain things are wrong, and they may not be the same as other culture’s but it doesn’t mean we can’t make judgments about them.

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November 16, 2013

Lesson 5 Assignment 3

 

My gender is a female, which at times I love and times I hate. As a female I feel as though there are certain activities and expectations that go along with it. I think that there are a lot of stereotypes about gender such as women are supposed to know how to cook and clean. A lot of this has changed with our world becoming more about equality for more than just gender. There’s a lot of work that goes along with being a woman too! We like to look and feel good about ourselves which means doing your hair and makeup and dressing up just to go out the door somewhere. I do like being a woman because I love to do my hair and get all dressed up and go out shopping and get my nails done! But there are some things that I do envy about men like how little goes into them getting ready to go out somewhere. In terms of my identity, I think that being a female is a big part of it. I embrace my femininity and wouldn’t ever exclude it from my identity. I think that my point of view goes along with both ethics of care and ethics of justice because I definitely feel for others feelings and make decisions based on what’s right most of the time.

I can’t pick between my friends to pin point just one best friend because I have two. My best friends are my sister Jackie and my boyfriend Jared. I would trust Jackie with my life and know that I can always confide in her whenever I need to talk about something private. In terms of equality Jackie and I have mutual respect for each other and are always helping one another out. Whenever we go out to dinner we take turns paying for the bill or if she buys me something I pick something up for her. Jackie and I are very close and have almost the same personality. We share the same sense of humor and always have a good time when we hang out. We love each other just the same and would do anything for each other no matter what. It’s easy to keep these qualities in our friendship because of how close we are and how alike we are.

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I do have more than one best friend; my other best friend is my boyfriend Jared. We have mutual trust in each other which is why our relationship works so well. We know when something’s bothering one another and know how to cheer each other up. We are always fair to one another and are equal in terms of what we put into our relationship. Jared and I love and care for each other and for one another’s families and friends. We know each other so well and know what works in our relationship and that’s what makes it so strong. You can definitely have more than one best friend because you can  have these strong feelings and strong connections with more than one person, and it’s awesome to have more than one person to have this type of relationship with. 

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November 13, 2013

Lesson 5 Assignment 2

My opinion about abortion applies to any type of fetus whether the fetus is completely healthy or it has trisomy 21. Although people may not agree with me, I believe that the decision to abort is ultimately up to the woman carrying the baby. I think that if a parent thinks that they can’t handle and can’t be responsible for raising a child then they shouldn’t and this applies to the issue of a child having trisomy 21. I know it’s wrong, but if it’s early enough I think that if the parent so chooses to then they can abort it. The moral obligations of a woman carrying a baby with trisomy 21 are to give that baby a life they deserve which includes love and happiness. If a woman can’t do this then she shouldn’t be having that baby or at least should be putting the baby up for adoption.

I don’t think it is right just to abort a child because they have trisomy 21 but I think that it is up to the woman carrying the baby. I think that if anything they should put the baby up for adoption if they don’t handle raising this child. Although I think it is wrong to abort or put a baby with trisomy 21 up for adoption, I don’t think it is anyone else’s choice. I do think it makes a difference if the pregnancy is wanted or not because if this pregnancy is the result of a sexual assault then the woman has to make the decision to abort or keep it. I don’t think it should depend on whether the child has trisomy 21 or not though.

Some people may say it is wrong to do prenatal testing or not because it may harm the baby if the pregnancy is too far along. Another argument for this is that if a woman is pregnant and wants a baby then testing the baby for the disease shouldn’t be necessary because they should want and love the baby no matter what. There are some moral theories that bear on these issues. Some of these theories of ethics of care might be that a fetus is still a living person and a special needs child is still a human and both deserve to be treated the same way we treat a healthy human. Another argument might be that a woman has to hold this child inside of her and it’s ultimately up to her to take care of them, so it should be their choice to abort or not.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thinplaces/2013/02/i-tested-and-i-terminated-and-i-do-not-regret-by-anonymous/

I choose this article which relates to the topics we are discussing and I found it to be very interesting. The woman in this article is faced with the choice to abort a baby who has T21 or to keep it. She makes the decision but when reflecting back says that there is no right answer or not wrong answer to this type of situation.

November 10, 2013

Lesson 5 Assignment 1

“In friendship, both caring and fairness are valuable. Although friendship does not usually center on formulating rules and applying them to cases, it typically does involve, as Marilyn Friedman has pointed out, a division of responsibilities in a more or less extensive mutual support system. A good friendship is fair about such divisions. Such fairness may even be a requirement of caring. Fairness in friendship also requires responsiveness to personal deserts or worthiness…” (Claudia Card).

I picked this paragraph because I really liked the way Claudia described friendship. The paragraph basically says that friendship doesn’t have rules or regulations to follow but is more of a mutually respectful relationship between two people who generally care about each other. Being a good friend is showing you care and sometimes just being there. I agree with what Claudia has to say because I agree with those definitions of friendship. I think that friendship is something that is earned between two people and is something to be valued. Friendship doesn’t need rules that you might have in some relationships either.

My understanding of ethics of justice is treating someone with equality and ethics of care is about the happiness of a person. When these two ethics are put together you would treat someone in order to make them happy but also think about what’s best for them in terms of being fair too. These two things are especially important in relationships whether it is friendships or otherwise because they are important ethical standards people should abide by in order to make the friendship/relationship work.

I think it is difficult to put together an exact list of qualities of friendship because there are so many different kinds. However, some of the qualities I think in friendship are trust, loyalty, and caring are pretty important qualities in friendship. Trust and loyalty are important because a friend is someone you tell your secrets too and they know personal information about you that you might not want others to know so if you don’t trust he/she and they tell other people without your permission, that isn’t a friend by my definition. Caring is also a big quality in friendship because you want someone who is going to take into consideration your feelings when they give you advice, and support you emotionally when things aren’t going so well.

My definition of empathy is being able to understand and share the feelings of someone. Basically it means you can understand what someone is going through because you’ve been in the same or a similar situation before. An example of me feeling empathy for someone is that a girl at my work wasn’t being treated so nice by our boss and was very upset by it. I was able to give her advice on the situation because my boss isn’t so nice to me sometimes. I think there is a lot to learn from empathetic situations because if something happens to you and someone has been in that situation before or something similar the y can tell you how they reacted and what they recommend you do to deal with it and I think it’s better than someone who hasn’t been in the situation giving you advice.

I don’t think that putting too much caring on personal caring relationships will lead to bigger ethical issues. I think that we should put more emphasis on personal caring relationships because it’s how people relate to one another. If we had people just using ethics of justice, a lot of feelings would be hurt. I think that is why bad things happen around the world because there aren’t enough personal caring relationships. I think that people need support systems in order to be happy.

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This is a picture of my boyfriend Jared and I. I chose this picture because Jared and I are best friends. He’s one of my best friends because we have fun with each other, trust each other, and care for each other. He understands me and is able to offer me advice based off of what he thinks is good for me and what won’t hurt me. He’s the best!

The song I chose to represent friendship is “You’ve got a friend” by James Taylor. This is basically a song about friendship that lets someone know they can count on you and they’re there for you.