Hailey Guzman
Ms. Montesano
HRE 3M
DATE @ “MMMM d, y” October 7, 2018
Few Good Men Assignment
Aristotle’s studies is how humans achieve the good and reach our potential. Aristotle created the theory of Teleology, teleology is the design or purpose of something. According to Aristotle, “to act ethically, is to engage our capacity to reason as we develop good character.”
According to Aristotle, Happiness Is found within the community and to achieve true happiness you must attain the good. Happiness is to develop social habits, in order to reason and act with virtues. Happiness and pleasure is not the same, happiness is everlasting like the love for family, and pleasure is momentarily, such as enjoying eating a cake. The Polis is the city state, the human community, within the community we develop habits and virtues, that shape human life. Working at a community centre helps develop social habits, such as outgoing, ambitious, optimism, and have experiences with other people.
Human excellencies are virtues that are developed by habits. A virtue is a trait or quality that are developed by moral excellences, such as honesty, responsibility,
patience, or kindness. Each individual has unique virtues that become part of who you are. The Mean is the balance between virtues, too much or too little of one’s virtue can lead to bad character. For example a person that is considered to be confidence, in excess they could be arrogant, self-centred, with deficiency they could be cowardice.
Deontology is the study of duty and the good of moral life. Duty is determined by human actions is morally good. For example your duty is to do the chores, Because it is the good will. The Good Will is to do what is morally right, and to follow orders, without hesitation. “Moral worth is not measured by our inclinations but by the motive behind them.” A Maxim is a statement of principles, like the ten commandments, everyone must follow the principles. The First Maxim states that a person should act like a moral model for the world to follow. For instance, if someone stops at a stop sign, then everyone else in the world should also stop at the stop sign, because it is the right thing to do. The Second Maxim states that people should treat other with equal value. For instance, a friend asks another friend to send them their homework for their own benefit. This relates to the second maxim because they’re being taken advantage of and not treated as an equal.
The Theory of Levinas is the ethics of the face, the face of the other is important to how we encounter one another through God. We make direct contact through the eyes, the face is the most naked part of the body. The Face is unique, each person has different facial features, it is not the same as any other persons face. Levinas says that “the face is a trace of God”, Meaning that God is part of us, and we encounter God through our eyes.
The Face becomes ethical when you are aware of the other, and makes you realize that each person is indifferent. The face is an authority, since God is part of each one of us. Levinas came up with the notion of Totality and Infinity, totality meaning that we are all the same, we are all humans we all have eyes, ears, bones and hearts. Infinity means that we’re all different, we have different features, personality, and morals. The face make you responsible for each other, it is our responsibility to take care of one another and to achieve “the supreme good”.
Deontology
Kants theory of Deontology is best represented through the character Colonel Nathan .R Jessup, a United States Marine corp. His duty is to train and command troops to do military activities,with strict regulations, infantry units, and prepare them for war. Col. Jessup says “we use words like honour, code, loyalty, we use these words as a backbone of a life defending a country” he displays his actions through commanding officers/ soldiers to follow their orders without hesitation.
Col. Jessup says “People follow orders or people die” according to Kant his quote relates to the Good will. Col. Jessup acted on his duty not for personal gain, He states “I don’t want money, I don’t want medals, I want respect.” As a higher ranked officer Colonel Jessup has a higher authority and demands respect from lower ranked people. He makes himself an exception, just because he has a higher rank and can give orders to people, he is not a good moral model for others to follow, because he
Col. Jessup does not show sympathy for the killed marine, he doesn’t see the value of the other marine, as they are not as important to him.
Col.Nathan Jessup actions were unethical because he committed a military crime, by trying to cover up the murder and
According to Kant “Act as you would want all other people to act towards all other people. Act according to the maxim that you would wish all other rational people to follow, as if it were a universal law.” Col. Jessup did not follow this
