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What Is Ethics Anyway Analysis

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In What is Ethics Anyway, Johnson states that ethics is the study of morality. The question is what is morality? He focuses on actions being morally right or wrong. When something is morally right, that is what we should do. Morally wrong things we should refrain from. Johnson uses religion as an attempt answer this. The example of Plato’s divine command theory, that the Bible tells us what is morally right and wrong. This is discussed in two ways. The first that “God commands something because it is moral.” and the second is that “Something is moral because God commands it.” Johnson explains that the first option tells us that there are morally right things, so God tells us to do those things. God did nothing to make those actions the correct ones, thus meaning there is a reason for these actions to be right and God is …show more content…

Immanuel Kant developed this theory and it was known as the categorical imperative. There were four versions of this. The first was “act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law.” With this maxim rule, you have to identify the rule you will follow if you performed a specific action. The next part is to decide if you had the power to make it a law, could you do it reasonably? Ultimately, Kant thought our ability to reason dictated morality. Johnson also talked about rights. He discusses our legal rights and natural rights. Legal rights are clear and known. Natural rights are not as clear. He explains that most of the time when deciding what is right or wrong, it is usually human (natural) rights that are being used. Rights can always be taken away or at the very least infringed upon.
Ultimately, Johnson concludes with stating that there is no way to decide which is a better theory and in all actuality, it only complicates things. If anything, the theories gave an insight to why things are morally right and wrong in certain

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In moral evil, the first type, he mentions that he believes in the free-will defense. The free-will defense as he states is having a “free and responsible choice, but that, if they do, then necessarily there will be the natural possibility of moral evil”. To illustrate what it is, perhaps a man finds a wallet with money and has a choice of returning the wallet of money, keeping it, or keeping the money and returning the wallet. Showcasing that humans have a range of choices they can make and with those choices, evil can occur. However, it brings the question of how God becomes involved with the free-will defense.

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He describes the objection as, “all men desire the apparent good, but have no control over the appearance, but the end appears to each man in a form answering to his character” (1114b).   This view argues that all people pursue that which seems good, but some people cannot see the true good, which is out of their control.   The immediate implication of this objection, if it is indeed true, suggests that “no one is responsible for his own evildoing” (1114b).

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This is so because it becomes difficult to know whether moral goodness is independent of the will of God or if it is as a result of His will. The Euthyphro dilemma offers two intensely differing sides. On one side of the argument, theorists are of the opinion that morality is whatever God wills. This position then brings into question the goodness of God’s will if His command vindicates what is wrong. Arguing that goodness is the determined by God shows that what is rights is so because God wills it to be right.

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Furthermore, in the second DCT, god forbids things because they are morally wrong, rather than out of his own reasons. Or as the text puts it, “God has perfect knowledge of what is right and wrong; therefore God cannot make a mistake”.” (P.41) However, reasoning can lead

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In which case, introducing God adds nothing. Lets say your motivation for obeying is not purely moral. E.g Punishment or reward from God. It simply becomes prudent to do it.

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The one put into question is that God cannot be all-good while at the same time being omnipotent and allowing evil to exist. If he can do something about evil and does nothing, then he is therefore not all-good. But what does the word “good” mean exactly? To obtain a definition for “good”, the free-will defense must be analyzed. The free will defense is a premise added to the original three of the Judeo-Christian belief in God, stating that it is impossible for God to allow creatures to be free-willed and prevent them from committing evil acts (Pojman 117).

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He also refers to the cosmological argument to show that God is an all-powerful being who created the universe out of nothing. Furthermore, he claims that suffering in the world is moral in the sense that suffering inflicted on innocents is genuinely evil. Without a God, there would be no objective morals, thus, evil proves God’s existence, as things would not be considered good or evil without a God (Craig, p. 126). In conclusion, evil proves God’s existence and thus the question as to why God permits evil does not work to disprove His existence.

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The Divine Command Theory The Divine Command Theory is an ethical theory that states that God decides what is morally right and what is morally wrong. The theory argues that to be morally good one must do what God says and abstain from doing what God forbids. The question that is going to be discussed in this essay is if The Divine Command Theory provides an acceptable account of what makes an action morally right and others morally wrong.

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An example that they used to prove why this is stating why we should not follow the Divine Command Theory using child abuse as an example. The Divine Command Theory is, “Actions that God commands us to do are morally required; actions that God forbids us to do are morally wrong; and all other actions are morally neutral” (page 51). God could make it so child abuse is right. If God said it, then it is true. We all know child abuse is not okay, but if religion and morality are not separate, we would have to obey by whatever God said is

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This problem with the theory mean that if God were to command something cruel, wrong for example rape, kill then it possibly becomes to be morally good. That is the reason this is wrong because if this were true that God command this atrocities then the Divine Command Theory would not be true for people because how can God command those acts. For example in one person is accused for murder and his reason for doing those terrible acts is because God commands him to most people this acts doesn’t seem to be true so then they will questions the theory and ask themselves if really what God commands is morally right. Therefore, to take out this problem from the theory philosophers might say that God is only able to command certain types of acts because he cannot command those atrocities because God is morally

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The last theory is Aristotle’s virtue ethics which states that we should move from the concern towards good action and to focus on the concern with good character. This paper argues that Aristotle’s virtue ethics is better than the other ethical theories. The divine command theory says that what is morally right and what is morally wrong is determined by God and God alone. People who follow the divine command theory believe that God is the creator of all things, therefore, he must also be the creator of morally right and wrong acts.

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Many cultures have shown the same fears throughout history, and often they have had the same reactions to these fears, especially the fear of death. Myth is a common structure of ancient and modern cultures. Mythology surrounding death, and what happens after death, has long been a way for many cultures to try to make sense of the unknown and to confront their fear of it. However, in ancient societies, myths about death had a more immediate and visible effect on the people and their daily activities.

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I hope to convince the reader that Kant’s Categorical Imperative is the better way to live a morally conscious life and more practical to follow as well. First I will briefly describe both Kant’s and Mill’s principles. Then I will go on to explain the advantages and disadvantages of both. Finally, I hope to provide a counterargument for some of Kant’s Categorical Imperatives downfalls. Kant states the Categorical Imperative as: "Act as if the maxim of your action were to become through your will and general natural law."

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The point is that moral approvals and disapprovals done by our moral sense are specific in nature and only operate when there is an action that can be appropriately judged of by our moral sense. Reasoning and information can change the evaluation of the moral sense, but no amount of reasoning can or does precede the moral sense in regard to its approval of what is for the public good. The moral sense approves of the good for others. This concern for others by the moral sense is what is natural to humankind, Hutcheson contended. Reason gives content to the moral sense, informing it of what is good for others and the public good

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As children, we were taught by our parents that it is wrong to lie, cheat, and steal. As we grow up and enter into the real world with some knowledge of right and wrong, we see, first hand, the importance of ethics as well as its complexity. The role of ethics in our society and in an individual’s life is very necessary because it has a large influence on today, as well as the future. We need to learn about good ethics because they guide our decisions, make us who we are, and determine our future.

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