Please read the following questions and respond to each one, in paragraph form. Do feel free to be creative in your responses -- post pictures, video clips, anything that helps answer the questions. You will have the whole period in class, as well as the weekend. Comments will be closed at 7:30 AM on Monday.
What are your own deepest moral values? What moral qualities do you look for in others? Are these things everyone shares?
When (under what circumstances) is it right to tell a lie? Give some examples from everyday life. What does this answer reveal about the scope or relevance of morality in general?
We have talked about moral health. When you think about a morally healthy life, what do you imagine? What about a morally unhealthy life? Give examples.
What is the moral issue that you are most undecided about? Describe the pros and cons in regard to this issue. How do you go about arriving at a decision when it is unavoidable?
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| Mr Berra |
My deepest moral values are loyalty, equality, and selflessness. Loyalty is a trait that everyone has; it means to show faith in people, religion, or any other thing. In order to be accepted by a community all people must show some loyalty. A way of showing loyalty is keeping a secret for a friend. Showing loyalty is part of showing equality. In order for everyone to get along everyone must think of the people around them as equals. The social system that we live in today shows very little sign of equality. The hardest quality a person can have is selflessness, and in order to do this you have to think of others ahead of yourself. These three qualities all tie into each other in some way, giving me, and everyone else, a good moral basis. Although many people lack these three things, some more than others, it is not impossible to try and act in these ways. I believe all people should practice these traits because i look for these three things in other people, and in all people.
ReplyDeleteIt is never technically right to tell a lie. However, under the circumstance of telling a person a lie in order to make them feel good may be an exception. If a person is crying about how ugly they look, and they haven't showered in three days, it is customary to tell them that they are not ugly, but should probably shower soon. Since we grow up being taught not to lie, this is morally incorrect, but hurting other people's feelings is also. The choice of lying or telling the truth is that person's decision, but if that lie negatively affects the people or things around that person, then the lie should not be told.
In a perfect world a morally healthy life would be everyone treating everyone the same, and there would be no lies and conflict. Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world, and the people in this world are far from perfect. Living a morally healthy life would require a person to try their hardest to make the morally correct decision. I imagine a man giving up his life for millions without even thinking about it. A morally unhealthy life is caused by negative actions concluding in negative issues. I imagine a man leaving many people on a stranded island alone because the boat could only fit one at a time.
The moral issue that I am most undecided about is the idea of abortion. On the downside it causes the death of an unborn child. To many people this is morally wrong, and even to me it is. However, I believe that if a woman is not ready for a child and that child will be treated wrongly and live and unhappy life, then what is the point of letting that child live. I have never been approached about this situation, I don’t know what I would do if someone asked me what the right thing to do was in that situation. There are many issues in life where I cannot make a compromise, and this is one of them.
I believe that no one should be put down because of what they look like. I'm really against infidelity in marriages. I think everyone should think for themselves and not let other people make their own decisions. In others, I look for forgiveness and someone who can laugh. I look for someone who doesn't take life so seriously and really lives in the moment. I don't think everyone can share these morals. They are certainly contagious if you are open to them, but they aren't necessarily universal aspects of life.
ReplyDeleteI think it's right to lie when you are under certain pressure. For instance, If someone is pressuring you to do something you don't want to do, you can lie and say you're sick or say your mom really needs you home when neither of those things are true. In life, I think this reveals that not many people care about other peoples morals or morality in generally. If someone has to lie to you to get out of what you are asking them to do. it's obviously not good.
When I think about a morally healthy life, I think about someone who regulates not only what they put in their stomach, but what they put in their mind. I think education is an important part of morality. In a morally unhealthy life, I think someone would neglect the important things we need to live, for instance love, food, and knowledge.
I am most undecided about God. I have been in denial of my faith for about a year. It's just something that I haven't experienced enough to really understand. A pro to this issue is that I am thinking independently. I am questioning myself and realizing who I really am. A con is that I am surrounded by people who believe and who want me to believe. There is a lot of pressure in the Christian church. A situation where this is unavoidable is having to acolyte at my church. I have to sit and listen to a sermon on how God can help me, but the second I leave, I start to question what the sermon was about.
Life is complicated but can be understood in a simple way. We need to slow down and not worry about things that won't make much of an affect on our life. This can be taught by everyone. This type of attitude is contagious.
My deepest moral values are loyalty and courage. In others, I tend to look for people with a strong sense of honesty. These are not necessarily things that everyone shares, though it may be very common to have similar traits.
ReplyDeleteIt is right to tell a lie if it prevents someone or something from getting hurt, and in turn, does not cause any damage itself. For example, in every day life, this can be seen in a surprise birthday party. As an optimistic choice, there isn't much moral conflict with lying about your whereabouts in order to surprise a friend. This reveals the thought that not adhering morality isn't always a bad thing.
When someone mentions a morally healthy life, I picture a person who is comfortable with the moral decisions they have made. When compared to average morals, they may even have made some poor decisions. However, as long as they themselves feel no regret, I believe they are living a morally healthy life. In contrast, a morally unhealthy life would more reference someone who feels remorse about the moral decisions that they have made. For example, Tony Hayward leads an unhealthy life because he feels remorse for spilling oil (though he regrets it more from the standpoint of he wants his yacht back).
The moral issue that I am most undecided about is the Cordoba House, or more familiarly, the attempt at building a mosque a few blocks from ground zero. This is a big issue because there is a debate between whether or not the government should intervene. Technically speaking, the constitution allows such building. However, there is a difference in being allowed, and respect. You go about arriving at a decision by intellectual thought, and compromise.
In morality, you probably take your moral values as an example from a trusted source. A person's morality is a mix of being taught those things (whether it be by a person, or perhaps a religious institution) and finding out for ourselves what we believe in.
People act the way they act by watching what others do around them. when Yogi Berra says “Just watch me do it" he is saying that if you watch him do it the right way that you will be able to do it to. Following someone who is doing the right thing is morally correct. In order to learn what is right others have to show us first.
ReplyDeleteone of my deepest moral values is respect to an elderly. the reason for that is because they have been through so much and are 9 out of 10 times a lot wiser then you are.i look for someone that can joke around but yet be serious at the same time. i don't think at all that these morals are what everyone shares because everyone has their on opinion on morals
ReplyDeleteMy deepest morals revolve around the idea that you should attempt to always be understanding and compassionate. Too much time is wasted judging others and using it against them. I say that we should learn to understand each person individually and show care for each person we meet. I look for someone who values honesty, and shows selflessness. I think people have shown us the right way and wrong way to act in society. We all know the stereo typical bully who hurts, lies, and steals to make himself feel better about his own problems. Perhaps if that boy had someone who showed him compassion, he would not feel the need to partake in those activities. I think it is also fare to say that we have also seen the "godly" child who lives their life serving others. I think to be healthy you have to be somewhere in between the two.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's ok to lie in most circumstance, but in some situations I think its ok to tell a lie that could protect someone from being judged unfairly or hurt. For instance, I think it's ok to tell someone that you are happy with their performance, when in actuality you wish they could have done better. If you know they have tried their best, I believe it's better to reward them with kind words the hurtful sayings. I think it reveals that morals are centered around being a good person and keeping people safe.
I imagine a life that where a person strives to be the best that they can. We are all faced with tough decisions sometimes, and no one expects us to be perfect. I imagine a person who is morally healthy is one who gives what they can when they can, but also puts value in their family and friends. I think someone who is morally unhealthy is probably in denial about their life. I think people who are completely happy with who they are have probably hurt a lot of people. I think its hard to create someone who is morally unhealthy, because everyones perception of what is right and wrong is different.
My deepest values are probably honesty and trust. You can't really have a relationship, whether it's just friendship or the relationship you have with your parents, without honesty and trust. If you don't have these values, you usually won't get what your looking for out of any relationship. I look for these values in my friends and the people I am with every day. Not everyone shares these values, although I would like to think most people do.
ReplyDeleteAn instance where I would tell a lie could be if a friend is late for work and the supervisor asks where he or she is I might say the bathroom so that they can have a little more time to get there before they get in trouble. Is this morally right? Probably not. I find that a lot insignificant events in life make us choose whether or not to lie. In those instances telling a lie really isn't that necessary but we do it anyway. I think this says a lot about the relevance of morality in our lives today. It could be better.
When I think of a morally healthy life I think of a good Christian person who always goes to church and follows the Bible to the letter. Someone that tries their hardest to uphold what they believe in. My view of a morally unhealthy person is someone who has no real moral code and goes around doing bad things without any concern of there impact on other people and themselves.
One moral issue that I am caught between is that of abortion. There are pros and cons to both sides of the coin. On one side you can permit a woman to have an abortion, killing an unborn child in the process. Many people would consider this murder. On the other side of the coin lies another complication. There is a reason the mother does not want to have the child. Maybe financially she is not in a situation where she can take care of a child, or maybe not at an age where she wants to or even knows how to take care of one. The child might be brought up in a poor, unstable home. Not the kind of life anyone wants to be exposed to. It comes down to how much you value human life in general as well as the QUALITY of human life. Is it better to have been born into an unstable home with a mother that didn't want you in the first place, or to have not lived at all?
When I was in scouts they always taught the older scouts to lead by example. This seemed to work from us. I learned how to lead from the oldest scouts until one day I was an Eagle Scout myself. Just as if you saw your father give a homeless man a meal under a bridge. We learn from the people we admire and strive to be like them. This is how we learn best.
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ReplyDeleteI'm most troubled about the idea of choosing who lives and who dies. What do you do when you are given the choice to save 100,00 children, but you will kill a mother? I suppose I would examine the lives of the children and the mother, but i honestly can not decide what I would do. How do you take someone's life, but how can you not save another when given the chance?
I think to some extent you can teach someone morals, but in the end it is their decision. You can show someone right from wrong, but they will believe what they want.
I believe that loyalty and unselfish are my most upheld moral values. I believe this because without loyalty, how can one trust another and if someone someone is always selfish why would you want to be around them if all one did was thought of themselves and never others? Unselfishness leads to giving, and in giving is helping which i believe are essential to society and relationships. Although i believe these are most important to both myself and what i look for in others, not everyone shares these moral values because everyone is different and upholds different independent qualities and values.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is deemed acceptable to tell a lie to a child when trying to teach moral values or lessons, such as santa claus or the tooth fairy. Another is when someone is in a bad situation and the outcome looks bleak to lie to that one and tell them things will be okay, even though one knows it will not. For me, going to the nurse when you are having an absolutely awful day and it makes you feel sick even though physically you are fine, it is excusable to go to the nurse to go home. This says that it is okay to lie in certain circumstances, but not always.
When one's moral beliefs and actions are in-line with one another, that one can lead a morally healthy life. But, if they are non-coinciding with one another it can be considered a morally unhealthy life.
Religion. The pros of believing in any religion is that during life it gives people hope for the future and something to rely on when things go downhill. The cons of not believing is the mystery of what happened and what could be after one dies or if there is a true need to live fulfilling life and if there are any consequences.
When one watches another do something and tries to follow in their footsteps, it may not work the same way because everyone is different and therefore must do things their own ways. If one may fail, there is always another chance to fix the mistake and learn from it. As a parent might say, "you must learn from your mistakes and continue on".
the only circumstance that i believe is right to tell a lie is when it involves either saving your own life or when you tell that lie it keeps you out of harms way physically or emotionally. an example is if you know somebody that is in trouble and if you lie then he might be better of because his reputation will still be intact but if you tell the truth he might not ever be able to show his face again
ReplyDeletemorally healthy life consists of your own believes and how hard your conscious can push you to a point of insanity. for example say you see an old women drop a hundred dollar bill instead of picking it up and giving it back to her you put in your pocket and walk away. at that oint you are starting down the road of bad moral health instead of good
ReplyDeleteone of the most undecided values i have would have to be abortions. while some look at this issue as killing a human life others look at it as saving someones on life. if this issue was unavoidable to me i would have to see not only what was best for me but the women that would conceive the child if she did not have the abortion
ReplyDeletein my opinion a human can do both.but By watching someone with good morals you are mostly likely to have the same because if it wasn't true then what would be the point of parents trying to raise their goods to be good people.
ReplyDeleteMy deepest moral values are loyalty and trust. I also look for these qualities in others because without trust you can't have a functioning relationship. Not everyone shares these things and this is why there are so many dysfunctional relationships today. You cannot have a relationship with someone if you don't trust them and if you aren't loyal to them.
ReplyDeleteI think it is right to tell a lie when you are protecting someone else or yourself and when it is better for them not to know the truth if it might hurt them. Even though telling lies is not right everyone does it even though it isn't morally right.
When I think of a morally healthy life I think of someone who is trustworthy and loyal. I think of someone who is trying to be the best person they can be, even if they aren't perfect all the time, they are trying and that is what really matters.
A moral issue that I am most undecided about it is religion and my belief in God. I do think there is something out there that is bigger than this world because someone or something had to have created the earth but I just don't know if i can believe in someone/thing that no one has ever seen or spoken to. With all the bad things going on in the world it is hard to believe in someone/thing that is supposed to be there for us all the time and help us all the time. Those are the cons. The pros of this issue would be that i am thinking for myself and questioning what I believe... if that's a good thing i don't know but I guess it is in a way. A situation that i am unable to avoid it is having to go to church with my parents.
I think we can learn from what others do to an extent but at some point in our lives we have to learn to think for ourselves and learn things on our own because we have to learn to live for yourself and not through others.
I believe that friendship and respect are two of the most important morals you can have. Each of them go hand in hand with each other. I think everyone should be treated with respect if they are respectful to you. Everyone should be a friend to everyone and the golden rule should be everyones first rule in life. I don't think these morals can be shared very well unless you truly believe the same things. If you don't believe the same morals its hard to connect about the same morals on the same level.
ReplyDeleteIn most cases I don't think its right to tell a lie, but in some cases it is okay. For example, if you lie to get yourself out of physical danger than it is okay to lie. If you are lying to keep someone else out of danger it is okay too. But in most cases it is never morally correct to lie. It's hard to say what my answer reveals about morality in general because everyone has their own views on lying in general.
I believe to be morally healthy you should have strong morals and not break your morals. It is up to you and you only to set your own morals for your life. If you follow what you think is morally correct then you are living a morally healthy lifestyle. A morally unhealthy lifestyle for me would be not treating everyone with respect and not being a friend to everyone because those are my own personal strongest morals.
The moral issue i am most undecided about it abortion. I am split 50 50 about this issue. In some ways it is wrong to take an unborn babies life, but from another point of view if that child is at risk with an unstable mother who is not ready nor qualified to have a child it could go the other way.
I believe that most everyone follows other peoples actions and their words. Some people may be mentors and awesome to look up to, while others are their friends and they watch the things they do and follow along. As much as i try not to follow everyone, its hard because that is just the way humans are.
My deepest moral values are probably honesty and loyalty. This being said, I probably look for these the most in others too. If someone is not loyal then how can you expect to trust them and same goes for honesty. If a person is not loyal and honest, you cannot truly know who they are. I think everyone probably thinks that these are important but their weight might be different.
ReplyDeleteThere are only several instances when it is okay to tell a lie. I believe that when you are in harm's way and a lie can protect you that it is okay to lie at that point. Also in order to protect someone you care about from harm. On the other hand I don't believe it is okay to lie if you are getting yourself out of minor trouble, especially if you are getting someone else into trouble instead. I also think it is okay to lie in order to protect someone else's secret or privacy. I think that this shows that morality is not concrete what so ever and can change in any number of situations.
I believe that a morally healthy life is one that you can live without regret and guilt. If you are guilt free then you have been living up to your own morals and are morally healthy. This obviously does not mean that you are morally healthy in everyone's eyes but in your own eyes you are doing the right thing. Being morally unhealthy is doing the wrong thing, especially when you know in your heart that it is wrong and do it anyway. If you stole from a grocery store and knew that stealing was bad then that would be morally unhealthy. If you went to a soup kitchen and fed the homeless and you know that this is a good thing to do then you are morally healthy.
I think I am most undecided about abortion. On one hand, I know that human lives are valuable and that it may be morally wrong to get an abortion, but on the other hand, I can think of a situation that if I were a woman I would need an abortion and I don't believe you can judge a woman for having the abortion. If a woman is raped by a man, and she becomes pregnant, then I personally believe she has every moral right to have an abortion. She should not have to deal with the every day reminder of that horrible emotional experience and, especially if she is extremely young, the massive responsibility of having a child. I believe however that if an adult couple has unprotected sex and they conceive a child that it is morally wrong to get an abortion because they were irresponsible and stupid.
I believe that morality can definitely be taught to others. If you see someone do something good, you are inclined to also do something good. If a bunch of other people are doing something wrong, then it is much easier to jump in with them then to take the high road. On the other hand I think you have to teach some parts to yourself. Only you can decide some of the hard issues for yourself.