Philosophy Assignment
1.) A small boy is playing happily on a swing in a local playground when an older girl pushes him off and hurts him for no other reason than that she wants to play on the swing. Are her actions morally wrong?
Mmmm... Depends on how much older this older girl is, as kids really do take a while to figure out that the world doesn't revolve around them, and there IS such a thing as right and wrong. I mean, yes, it is morally wrong, but even if the little boy went to tell on her, she'd get nothing but a warning from maybe her own parent. Either way, she still gets the swing.
2.) Is it possible that an action is morally wrong solely for the reason that it harms the person undertaking the action? For example, might it be morally wrong to smoke just because it harms the smoker and for no other reason?
Nope, it's the person's decision whether they want to kill themselves or not, but I doubt that that can be categorized as being morally wrong. But it depends on whether the person unertaking the action is doing it willingly, or is being willed by someone else. But even as smoking can harm the people who breathe its carbon monoxide air, it still can't be considered morally wrong.
3.) Is it possible something might be morally wrong for no other reason than that God determines that it is wrong? For example, imagine that God has declared that drinking water is wrong, and when she is asked why she replies honestly "for no other reason than that I say it is."
Then that, my friends, is what my pals who go to Church would consider sinful. And morality is decided by society and people, and only marginally by God, so I'll have to go with no on this one.
4.) Can an action be morally wrong if it is entirely private and no-one, not even the person doing the act, is harmed by it at all?
This is like asking if you found a hundred dollar bill in your friend's couch one day and decided to keep it because no one knew it was there. Hello, that's stealing. So, yes, it doesn't matter if it's in private or public; if the person comitting the act knows what they're doing is wrong, but go ahead and do it anyway, then they have serious morality issues (and stealing from a friend, that'd be the worst)
5.) Do you think that morality comes from God or some other source outside of nature, society and human judgement?
Well, I believe that they all branch off each other. I said that God only marginally determines what is moral or immoral, and what I mean is that, for example, in every religion, stealing is considered wrong and immoral, but even those who don't believe in God basically think the same thing (as no child grows up not having been introduced to at least ONE religion) It's even become a law that if you steal, you have to pay some sort of penalty and suffer the consequences. So it started out with God, who willed it; society, who enforced it; and human judgement, who followed it.
6.) An old woman was very ill. On her deathbed she asked her son to promise that he would visit her grave at least once a week. The son didn't want to disappoint his mother, so he promised that he would. But after his mother died, he didn't keep his promise. He was too busy. He didn't tell anyone about his promise, and he has never felt guilty for failing to do as he said he would. How do you judge the failure of the son to visit his mother's grave once a week as he promised?
Any son would make ANY promise on the deathbed of his own mother. I would understand that he couldn't make the journey to the cemetery every week, but he could have at least made in effort to try. That's the woman who went out of her way to have you, to raise you; the least you could do is keep your bloody promise.
Should the son be made to keep his promise or punished in some way for failing to visit his mother's grave once a week?
No, I don't think that should be necessary. Especially not if he doesn't even feel guilty about breaking the promise. But he'll probably see how it feels when he's on his own deathbed and is asking his own son of the same thing.
Suppose you learn about two foreign countries. In one country, it is normal for a son to break a death-bed promise to his mother to visit her grave every week. In the other, if a son has made such a promise, then it is normal for him to keep his word. Are both these customs okay morally speaking or is one of them bad or morally wrong?
I don't know whose idea it would be to casually break a promise to visit your mother's grave every week, but that's morally screwed up. Like I said, if you make a promise, at least make an effort to keep it.
Mmmm... Depends on how much older this older girl is, as kids really do take a while to figure out that the world doesn't revolve around them, and there IS such a thing as right and wrong. I mean, yes, it is morally wrong, but even if the little boy went to tell on her, she'd get nothing but a warning from maybe her own parent. Either way, she still gets the swing.
2.) Is it possible that an action is morally wrong solely for the reason that it harms the person undertaking the action? For example, might it be morally wrong to smoke just because it harms the smoker and for no other reason?
Nope, it's the person's decision whether they want to kill themselves or not, but I doubt that that can be categorized as being morally wrong. But it depends on whether the person unertaking the action is doing it willingly, or is being willed by someone else. But even as smoking can harm the people who breathe its carbon monoxide air, it still can't be considered morally wrong.
3.) Is it possible something might be morally wrong for no other reason than that God determines that it is wrong? For example, imagine that God has declared that drinking water is wrong, and when she is asked why she replies honestly "for no other reason than that I say it is."
Then that, my friends, is what my pals who go to Church would consider sinful. And morality is decided by society and people, and only marginally by God, so I'll have to go with no on this one.
4.) Can an action be morally wrong if it is entirely private and no-one, not even the person doing the act, is harmed by it at all?
This is like asking if you found a hundred dollar bill in your friend's couch one day and decided to keep it because no one knew it was there. Hello, that's stealing. So, yes, it doesn't matter if it's in private or public; if the person comitting the act knows what they're doing is wrong, but go ahead and do it anyway, then they have serious morality issues (and stealing from a friend, that'd be the worst)
5.) Do you think that morality comes from God or some other source outside of nature, society and human judgement?
Well, I believe that they all branch off each other. I said that God only marginally determines what is moral or immoral, and what I mean is that, for example, in every religion, stealing is considered wrong and immoral, but even those who don't believe in God basically think the same thing (as no child grows up not having been introduced to at least ONE religion) It's even become a law that if you steal, you have to pay some sort of penalty and suffer the consequences. So it started out with God, who willed it; society, who enforced it; and human judgement, who followed it.
6.) An old woman was very ill. On her deathbed she asked her son to promise that he would visit her grave at least once a week. The son didn't want to disappoint his mother, so he promised that he would. But after his mother died, he didn't keep his promise. He was too busy. He didn't tell anyone about his promise, and he has never felt guilty for failing to do as he said he would. How do you judge the failure of the son to visit his mother's grave once a week as he promised?
Any son would make ANY promise on the deathbed of his own mother. I would understand that he couldn't make the journey to the cemetery every week, but he could have at least made in effort to try. That's the woman who went out of her way to have you, to raise you; the least you could do is keep your bloody promise.
Should the son be made to keep his promise or punished in some way for failing to visit his mother's grave once a week?
No, I don't think that should be necessary. Especially not if he doesn't even feel guilty about breaking the promise. But he'll probably see how it feels when he's on his own deathbed and is asking his own son of the same thing.
Suppose you learn about two foreign countries. In one country, it is normal for a son to break a death-bed promise to his mother to visit her grave every week. In the other, if a son has made such a promise, then it is normal for him to keep his word. Are both these customs okay morally speaking or is one of them bad or morally wrong?
I don't know whose idea it would be to casually break a promise to visit your mother's grave every week, but that's morally screwed up. Like I said, if you make a promise, at least make an effort to keep it.