Ethics from my Snowboarding Trip

Hello again everyone. Thank you to the 1 person who responded to my last random blog post with an issue. This one will not be about me but will contain an issue someone I met while snowboarding. Please post about the ideas around the issue and not gossip stories. Tell me what you think of what the man said and whether he was right or wrong about the idea and your reasons or morals why he was wrong.

Story:

I was getting my snowboard stuff ( boots, board, bindings, helmet, etc.) and I started to talk to the guy, and he started to tell me a story about one of the times he came down the mountain. I'll give some background to help with the understanding. If you have never been skiing or snowboarding the grade or rate the trails on a scale of green being the easiest or circles to double diamond or black to being the hardest with blues or squares being the intermediate trails. Well as the story goes he was coming down the mountain on his snowboard on the blue trails. When he was coming the down the mountain a family with their 7 or 8 year old child was coming down as well. The child crashed in front of the snowboarder and he ended up running into the child and injuring himself pretty bad while the child escaped without harm. Now he thought the family should be sorry towards him since he was injured and the child was not. He dislocated his shoulder and couldn't snowboard the rest of the season.

The question I ask is whether or not you think the snowboarder should feel bad for hitting the child or should the parents feel bad since he was the one who was injured. Why or why not. Give your reasons in a comment and I will give back my thoughts on the situation. What other information if any would you like as well.

Enjoy!!

Blog Assignment #4

Relationship b/n Religion & Ethics

1. Paragraph:

I think the relationship between ethics and religion is one that is a very similar because we base a lot of our ethic thoughts of how were raised and some people are raised in very religious households so normally they base some of their ethics off of religion. It only becomes difficult when you are trying to argue points for certain issues that can cause certain problems with how you present your argument.

2. Paragraph & Link:

The person who wrote the article describes the basis of religion and ethics as one of revelation and reason. He says that religion can not be the back bone because the readings and teachings are not verifiable and therefore can not be justifiable. He says that it relies on human beings to make the decisions based on their own well-being while being mindful of others as well.

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/greatergood/archive/2006springsummer/donahue.html

3. Argument: Compose a short argument, in “argument elements” form. I’ll provide the arguable issue; you provide the rest. Make sure each of your premises is a complete sentence, and that your argument doesn’t break any of the rules listed in the first chapter of the Rulebook for Arguments:

Arguable Issue: The arguable issue is whether or not ethics and religious beliefs are complementary.
Conclusion: Ethics and Religion are not complementary.
Premises: Ethics and Religion are not complementary because
(1) Both deal in absolutes.
(2) Religion has no room for growth in ideas.
(3) Arguing religion can lead to attacking someone's deep personal beliefs.

The Role of the Majority View

1. Paragraph:

The Majority view is just the fact that in a pole or vote that 51% are in agreence on a topic or issue that was presented to them. It does not matter whether they fully understand what is being presented to them or not just that feel one on or another, right or wrong. The textbook "Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues" was my source.

2. Argument: Compose a short argument, in “argument elements” form. I’ll provide the arguable issue; you provide the rest. Make sure each of your premises is a complete sentence, and that your argument doesn’t break any of the rules listed in the first chapter of the Rulebook for Arguments:

Arguable Issue: The arguable issue is whether or not the Majority View is a reliable basis for ethical decision-making.
Conclusion: Majority view is not a reliable basis for ethical decision-making.
Premises: Majority view is not a reliable basis for ethical decision-making because
(1) The majority is not always educated correctly.
(2) The majority takes away ones individualistic views on ideas.
(3) The majority may have a bad sampling group to represent what is truly how people feel.


The Role of Feelings

1. Paragraph:

When Rousseau said " What I feel is right is right, what I feel is wrong is wrong," I immediately thought that this is the common issue of listening to the heart or the mind is the correct way to go. Feelings always play a role in some of ethical decisions we have but sometimes what we feel as feelings are not always the best thing for us or for the decision itself. Issues as Abortion and Capital Punishment can really test ones ideas on heart and mind for making a decision in each case. My source was the textbook "Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues."

2. Argument: Compose a short argument, in “argument elements” form. I’ll provide the arguable issue; you provide the rest. Make sure each of your premises is a complete sentence, and that your argument doesn’t break any of the rules listed in the first chapter of the Rulebook for Arguments:

Arguable Issue: The arguable issue is whether or not our feelings are a reliable basis for ethical decision-making.
Conclusion: Feelings are not a reliable basis for ethical decision-making.
Premises: Feelings are not a reliable basis for ethical decision-making because
(1) Feelings may sometimes blind us to the greater good.
(2) Feelings can conflict with other peoples feelings and ideals.
(3) Feelings are wants more than good reasoning sometimes.

The ability to express yourself in your own words is essential in this class. Did you put everything in your own words this time?

I always express myself in my own words in anything I do unless I am going to be quoting what someone else has said and than either build off of it or just leave it at that quote.

What was easiest / hardest about this assignment?

The hardest was doing the arguments because I missed last week so I didn't get any lessons or practice on them so I hope did well on them from just reading and teaching myself.

How will you apply what you learned through this assignment to your everyday life?

I take all these ethics lessons and apply them at work a lot because I am always wondering how I should handle certain situations there and also with friends and family that I deal with. When arguing with religious people or issues I will just leave them be seeing as how you can really hurt someone over it and get nowhere doing it.

How well do you think you did on this assignment? Explain.

I think I did really well on this assignment for having missed class week and having to take in the learnings on my own and try to go in the direction you wanted. Also, teaching myself was something that wasn't fun but I hope I did well enough to get a good understanding for when I come to class and how I presented my arguements and ideas in this assignment.

Just for fun

As we all know Ms. Pierce wants us to post comments on people's blogs that we have. I know for me personally posting on assignments from books and other things related to class work can just be complicated and time consuming process trying to really think about how to handle posting on some one's blog to challenge their ideas or thoughts, so I figured I would post something that has to do with more real situations that I deal with from day to day and pose some sort of ethical dilemma and people can post how they would have handled the situation or give advice on how they think I should handle the situation. Following people's comments I will post how everything was handled and my reasons for doing so and we can see how we are alike or different and why we would handle things certain ways.

Since Karla doesn't want our blogs turning into gossip columns, I would ask that anyone who responds to this post do the following:

1. Give your view of the situation

2. Support your answer with good reasons (because unsupported opinions are just that--opinions).

3. Explain what principles and values you are basing your decision / view on.

So here goes the first one...

On Thursday nights at 8 p.m. I help a friend host a trivia show. It was our last show after hosting there for almost a year together. We were having drinks and food and an all around good time with all the staff we knew and the regular teams that showed. Well during the show I got a call from a girl who for anonymity sake we will name Amanda. Now Amanda and I have had this attraction that everyone could see for close to 6 months now. She has been dating this guy Ryan (fake name again) for most of the 6 months. Now Ryan and Amanda are on and off all the time and she always calls me and what not when something goes wrong with Ryan and her. So when she shows up I am all like what does she want this time. Normally, it is just to play games with my head or try to get all into me and then just not talk to me for a while and it really just gets old. As my friend starts to hound on her about Amanda and I getting together since her and Ryan are no longer "together," I guess. Well as we sit there and have drinks till after close we all decide to pack up and leave. As we leave she is saying walk me to my car. I'm like OK fine I can do this again and get a hug and blah blah blah... So we talk for a minute outside and give her a hug and she does something she has never done before, kisses me on the cheek which was odd to me. After wards I lean back think to myself for a split second and go in for a kiss thinking to myself this a make or break moment for me and her.

So my ethical dilemma is to kiss her or not. I'm pretty sure she is still "with" her current boyfriend in some way but she obviously wants something from me. So would you go in and kiss her knowing you are ultimately participating in cheating on someone else or do you pull back and just go on your merry way and think what chance you maybe could have blown there?

I will post how I handled it after 2 people respond with their thoughts and/or questions.

Blog Assignment #2

1. Were the questions on the Moral Sense Test difficult to answer (psychologically, emotionally, conceptually, technically, etc.)? Why or why not? Do you think your responses to the Moral Sense Test questions were consistent? Does this matter?

I did not think it was difficult at all to answer the questions from the Moral Sense Test (MST). Most dealt with material over physical issues and was easy to decide which was more important. I think most of answers were consistent and I think staying consistent proves that you follow a certain set of ideals and morals you have whether you consider them as correct or incorrect is up for debate but sticking to how you feel is better than always changing what you believe in at least in my opinion.

2. Should people always follow the law? Why or why not? When might one be justified in NOT following the law? Give examples.

I think people should always follow the law. They were put there and decided on to help keep you safe for a reason and what makes you different from any other person who lives in this society to not follow the law? A justified case may be speeding to get an injured person to the hospital or defending yourself in a deadly situation which you may consider legal or not. I would say if your life or someone you cared about life's depended on you breaking the law or not I would break it.

3. In your own words, explain what "social convention" means. Give examples.

I would describe "social convention" as the understanding of unwritten laws or basic understandings of how things in a given society operate blindly. A couple examples would be normally people who like to speed or drive faster than normal are in the left where slower traffic usually stays to the right lane. Most men open doors for women or allow to precede things before them even if they were to arrive earlier say to a door or waiting on an elevator.

4. Should people always follow the conventions of their society? Why or why not? Give examples.

I don't think people should always follow the conventions of their society because then everything becomes to confertable and change never happens. Now I don't think changing for changes sake is a good idea but amazing things come from people challenging the conventions of the time. I mean our country was founded by challenging the conventions of the Brittish. Also, I personally am not a big fan of the standard 9-5 work schedule, I believe in the much more less conventional goal oriented work time. You recieve a goal to do and work as many hours you need to get it done to the specifications if that means 3 hours 1 day, 12 the next and 8 the following than you can take off the rest of the days than so be it. On the flip side if you have to work 60 hours instead of 40 that also has be to done as well.

5. Should people always follow their own principles? Why or why not? Give examples.

I think you should always follow your principles or what is even the point of having them, wouldn't make very much sense if you asked me. Now I think principles can change over time but that is different than not blantantly not following them. Some examples of principles would be if I decided to believe in any religion that is a principle you have made to go to church/mass/temple/mosque or any other form of prayer or respect for that religion of choosing. Saying you are something and then not actually following what you say is not something that would make sense.

6. Explain in your own words the difference between socially acceptable, legally acceptable, and morally acceptable.

Socially acceptable means that you do things that people will accept whether law breaking or not, some people would could consider underage drinking socially acceptable. Legally acceptable would mean that you accept things that are law abiding and not breaking it in any way. Morally acceptable would be based on accepting things based on your morals like abortion or the death penalty would be examples.

7. Out of 25 points, how many points do you feel your work on this assignment deserves? Justify your answer.

I guess I got mine up late by 20 minutes cause I thought I had submitted before I went did things so I would deserve only 0 points but I am going to post anyways since I spent all the time writing this out.

Blog Assignment #1

1. How would you have explained the meaning of the term "ethics", before taking this class?

I would have explained "ethics" as the morally reasoning behind every decision a person makes in their day to day life.

2. What are some of your deepest held values?

My deepest held values are loyalty to friends and family and trying my hardest at everything even if I think I am going to fail.

3. What are some main principles you try to live your life by?

I try to be positive and work as hard as possible to complete everything I try. I try to make friends and be nice to everyone I meet because you never know who you are going to meet.

4. What moral qualities do you look for in others?

I look for people who are positive who enjoy life for what it is right now. Nobody wants to hang around with someone who sees everything half empty.

5. How were your values and principles developed?

I was raised as a military brat for 19 years so I believe most of values and principles come from that upbringing and life style.

6. How have your values and principles changed throughout your life so far?

I think the biggest one is my work ethic. I used to be really lazy when it came to school and life and I work a lot harder to succeed and do well than I used to now that I am older and more experienced in the real world.

7. Out of 25 points, how many points do you feel your work on this assignment deserves? Justify your answer.

I think I should get a full 25 points because I have answered each question completely, checked spelling and gramar, and posted on time.