The Importance Of Obligations - 768 Words (2024)

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The prima facie duties that William David Ross has listed include duties of fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-improvement, and non-maleficence. Duties of fidelity and reparation rest on previous acts that one has performed, and acting on these duties are acts such as promise-keeping (duties of fidelity) and making amends for previous wrongful acts (duties of reparation), while duties of gratitude rest on previous acts that others have performed. There is a duty associated with the distribution of pleasure or good regardless of its recipient, and this is termed as duties of justice. An additional duty rests on the mere fact that there are other beings in this world to whom we can be of assistance to: duties of beneficence. Duties of self-improvement claim that there are intrinsic moral reasons for one to improve oneself and finally, duties of non-maleficence states that there are intrinsic moral reasons to not harm others. Duties are placed on the list only when they have been judged to be basic moral reaso...

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We as a society have acted upon our obligations in the past, such as during World War 2, yet the occasional dose of action is not what we are supposed to desire as humans. We can not say “I will help these people who are being abused today, yet these people yesterday are on their own.”. Moral obligation is not something so fickle as we wish to make it seem. Although the proposal I have left you with is tough to chew on, it is the right principle to act upon if we are to improve human life and live morally good lives.

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Now, against Unger’s Pretty Demanding Dictate, there might be conflicting views proposed by the defenders of Murphy and Cullity. Murphy and Cullity would both agree that Unger’s Pretty Demanding Dictate is too demanding on us and therefore should have a limit at which point we become free from moral obligations. However, each author holds a different reason for supporting this over-demanding objection; Murphy argues for fairness as a constraint on moral obligation while Cullity argues for self-interest as a constraint.

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Are our decisions subject to the inclinations of our past actions, as behaviorist would proclaim? Or do we have governance over our actions, or in other words, free will, as Humanists would argue? Furthermore, what is “right?” Is it to succumb to the societal and religious expectations of “good?” Or is it to act on one’s own intent? These are the questions that Alex from Stanley Kubrick’s Film adaptation of Burgess’ “A Clockwork Orange” and Hamlet from Shakespeare’s celebrated tragedy both struggle in answering as they

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Studying the Sun, The Moon, The Stars, by Junot Diaz, brought the realistic image of an intimate relationship in a way I never expected. The main character in the story Yunior says in the beginning, “I’m like everybody else: weak, full of mistakes, but basically good”, starts telling information on how his personality is. Yunior is not a bad guy even though he cheated on his girlfriend; these comments are retrospective because he makes them when the relationship between Magda ended. Diaz theme of personal responsibility and the way it sustains a relationship, which Yunior fails to accept the responsibility for his own actions, attributing his infidelity to “others” rather than to his selfish behavior.

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this question with Kant?s treatment of the question of why the CI is binding in

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The author defined "owe" as a form of obligation that is to be fulfilled unwillingly. In support of her argument she presented the case of friendship. When two people are friends they help each other, but they are not obliged to make their share of sacrifices. She stated that the term "owe" undermines the role of mutuality. "Owe" represents obligations that must be fulfilled irrespective of the person's emotions. Thus, the term "owe" should not be used to refer to a child's duties towards his/her parents.

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Trying to define codependency can be very difficult. It is not an exact or definitive state; rather, it's more of a general description for a variety of behaviors. Put simply, codependency is an addiction to love, where one person in a relationship is devoted and completely invested to a point where it negatively affects his or her emotional and physical well-being.

3229 Words |7 Pages

Substance disorders affects all social, educational, cultural, and age groups. Substance abuse research often focusses on the abuser and the family as a whole but not how it affects their spouse. United States misuse is linked to approximately 590,000 deaths and is responsible for injury or illness to almost 40 million individuals every year. (Cox, R., Ketner, J. & Blow, A. 2013). The consequences resulted from this disorder, are not only related to the substance abusers, but also have a great influence on their behavior and other layers of their life, especially their wives (Salehyan, Bigdeli, & Hashemian 2011). When the husband or boyfriend has an addiction the wife takes on responsibilities of her spouse which causes an increase in stress. Marriage is generally described as a protective factor against substance use. The concept of codependency was developed to explain what happens to the spouse of a substance abuser.

1568 Words |4 Pages

I will also articulate my positions regarding proposals from John Arthur, Peter Singer, and Immanuel Kant. John Arthur, an American philosopher, states that “this idea can be expressed rather awkwardly by the notion of entitlements, by which I have in mind the thought that having either a right or justly deserving something can also be important as we think about our obligations to others.” The other side of the coin would be the views of Peter Singer, an Australian moral philosopher, states that “...if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it.” Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, believes that “The practical necessity of acting on this principle -- that is, duty -- is not based on at all on feelings, impulses, and inclinations, but only on the relation of rational beings to one another, a relation in which the will of a rational being must be regarded as lawgiving, because otherwise it could not be thought of as an end in

1837 Words |4 Pages

Happiness is defined as a “state of being happy”. This concept of happiness seems rather simple to the ordinary person. According to Aristotle and Immanuel Kant, happiness is not merely a state. In fact, there is a lot more substance within the dimension of happiness that one must acquire and comprehend to achieve. While Aristotle defines happiness as the final end and self sufficient (8), Kant does not. Instead, Kant emphasizes the kingdom of ends, in which all are subject to the categorical imperative as rational autonomous beings with the intention of universalizing one’s maxim, not happiness. This paper will explore Aristotle’s definition of happiness in comparison to Kant’s.

1186 Words |3 Pages

Integrity is how somebody lives their life. In this life we live, we face choices every day that only we can answer. We dictate how we run our own lives, and they way we run them defines us. Integrity is doing the right thing versus the wrong thing. People, if nothing else, can always have their pride, their integrity. It is something that means a lot to some people and then nothing to others. The ones who value their integrity highly are the good people in this world, and the opposite is true for those who do not value their integrity.

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The concepts of obedience and disobedience are evident from the beginning of one 's life. Young children are born with the tendency to do things that are against what they are told or what they know they should do. They don 't have to learn how to disobey; it is an innate behavior. This struggle between obedience and disobedience carries on throughout our lives. There are three major factors that can cause obedience and disobedience; authority, social pressure, and situations. Each of these vastly impact an individual 's behavior and cause them to act in ways they would normally not.

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It is how our everyday decisions are made. Every individual’s mind is free from making choices, but it is influenced within or without the society. Elements that effect our decisions such as the people around us, the situation we are into. For example, parent can limit their children’s options by controlling every aspect of their life. Especially Asian American children who born in a traditional Asian family have to study a “good” major, go to a good college, or get good grade in order to please their parent. Because they were born in America, “they are exposed to freedom of speech, freedom to choose and well freedom to everything,” but “they cannot exercise their freedom to their full extent” (“Asian” 2015). Other than parent, friends are also another element that shapes our will. Friends tend to do many activities together, and in order for that to happen, they need to have the same idea. If you are belong to a group of friends that most of them want to go to the beach for summer, but you want to go to the mountain, you would have to follow the decision of the majority. It does not mean that we do not have free will to make our own choices. We could choose not to study what your parents tell you to and study what you like or you could decide to go to the mountain like you want, but the responsibility we have to take on for our decisions are not always what we want. We might have a fight with our parent or our friendship could be destroyed. Circ*mstances play another important role in determining our will. If you are sitting on a full bus and there is a pregnant woman standing next to you, you would let her take your sit because that is what most people do. Another example of this is when you are looking to buy a house. You might want to get a big and nice house for your family, but the price of the house is based on your financial situation. Therefore, whether

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Two important characteristics for warriors are honor and virtue. Virtue is deemed to be the most important to a warrior's life and it means achieving your greatest potential as a human being. "The reward for great honor and virtue is fame (kleos), which is what guarantees meaning and value to one's life. Dying without fame (akleos) is generally considered a disaster, and the warriors of The Iliad do the most unimaginable deeds to avoid dying in obscurity or infamy. Other components of a warrior's heroic code is courage, loyalty, generosity, mercy, dignity, decency, honor, stoicism and strength."