To what extent should ethical considerations influence our decision making process?
On Compassion
A Hanging
Lies We Tell Kids
Reference at least one of these pieces.
or
Write about a time when you were faced with an ethical dilemma/decision and what factors you considered when making that decision. What were the consequences?
Ethics and morals should become a common part of making any type of decision. Whenever we are forced to make a decision, the use of ethics helps us to make the best possible decision for everyone involved. The use of ethics also helps us to make the decisions that agree with God's intended will and teachings. In the essay, "A Hanging," the author, George Orwell, describes an event of a prisoner being hung. In his essay, he gave specific details about how the prisoner and the guards were all still alive and that they were all alive in the same way. Even as he was nearing the end of his life, the prisoner showed signs of life. Orwell stated, "All the organs of his body were working — bowels digesting food, skin renewing itself, nails growing, tissues forming — all toiling away in solemn foolery. His nails would still be growing when he stood on the drop, when he was falling through the air with a tenth of a second to live. His eyes saw the yellow gravel and the grey walls, and his brain still remembered, foresaw, reasoned — reasoned even about puddles." Through this quotation, Orwell showed that it was unethical to destroy a life, with or without reason. However, this essay does not just relate to the execution of prisoners. It also shows that to make any moral decision we must be able to consider that those around us are also human and we must make the choice that betters everyone, not just ourselves. Later on, Orwell showed that the decisions we make do not only effect everyone around us, but they also effect our conscience and character. "It is curious, but till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man. When I saw the prisoner step aside to avoid the puddle, I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full tide...He and we were a party of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world; and in two minutes, with a sudden snap, one of us would be gone — one mind less, one world less." Through these words, Orwell tells his audience that the men making the unethical decision will end up mind less, while the prisoner only ends up world less. This is perfect example to show us that immoral decisions force us to destroy the content of our character and kills our conscience. By incorporating ethics into each of our decisions we can ensure that we and those effected by our choices will receive the best possible consequences and outcome.
ReplyDeleteHailee,
DeleteI think you made a pretty solid argument using Orwell's piece. I find it interesting that we both interpreted the part about "one mind less, one world less" differently. I thought that both of those descriptions described the prisoner, but after reading your blog, I realized that they could apply separately to the prisoner and the others. Great blog this week.
Ethical considerations should play a large role in the decision-making process. Often, a problem arises when a person does not consider how his or her decision will affect others. If Victor Frankenstein had considered the ethical disturbances of creating a monster, much of if not all of the conflict in the book could have been avoided. The story told by George Orwell in "A hanging" emphasizes the necessity of ethical considerations in decision-making. In the piece, Orwell tells the story of a prisoner that is to be hanged. When the man to be hanged sidesteps a puddle, Orwell recognizes that he is a living, breathing, and fully- functioning human being just like himself. He sees the ability of the man to reason and says "I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness of cutting a life short when it is in full tide." Before that moment, Orwell had not considered how the death of that man could affect him or anyone else. He realized that was morally wrong to end a person's life. He states "He and we were were a party of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world; and in two minutes, with a sudden snap,one of us would be gone- one mind less, one world less." In that statement, Orwell acknowledges and describes the effects of an unethical decision. After that man's death, he would no longer have a place in this world. He would no longer possess the mind that, moments before, allowed him to reason to avoid a puddle.
ReplyDeleteIt was not mentioned what the prisoner had done to receive his punishment, but that did not matter because ethically, the man should not have been killed. By omitting that detail, Orwell shows that there is no reasoning that will excuse an unethical decision. While Orwell's story speaks of ethics as applied to capital punishment, they should be applied to every situation. There is never a decision that should go against ethical boundaries because crossing such boundaries creates detrimental circumstances. No decision is worth the problems it will cause I the future. So, to what extent should ethics influence a decision? They should be applied to a decision in every extent. If a decision is not ethically sound, how can the decision be sound? The outcome of a decision is not guaranteed to be positive if ethical considerations are not made.
Jenna,
DeleteThe argument you presented was very clear and strong. I enjoyed how you included some points about Frankenstein in your argument as well. I also liked that you explained the meaning of Orwell's essay in the first paragraph and tied everything together in the second paragraph. Great job.