If you followed all the laws, would that make you a moral person Why Essay

If you followed all the laws, would that make you a moral person Why or why not - Essay Example The readings further offered the insight that under such circumstances it becomes the moral responsibility of citizens in the society to oppose such laws and disobey them. Therefore, as discerned from the core textbooks and outside research, I can discern that when an individual obeys all the laws in society, it does not make him a moral person. Obeying just laws, which are intended for the common good and well being of all the citizens, is the responsibility of every citizen in a country, as emphasized in the core reading and the journal articles I accessed during the research. These are intended to maintain peace and harmony within the society and to protect the weak from the strong. Similarly, laws also seek to prevent crimes, immorality and other evils within the society. Thus, citizens are bound to obey just laws for the prevalence of peace and harmony within the human society and when they break laws they become immoral people. On the other hand, the readings from the textbook chapters and other research materials I know that when unjust laws are enacted by rulers, such laws compromise the concept of common good. Thus, many political philosophers contend that unjust laws are no laws at all but â€Å"acts of violence† (George, 2008, p.194). Human history is replete with instances of exploitation of the weak by the ruling class through discrimination and other atrocities. The Nazi regime of Hitler sets a classic example of immoral rulers, who enacted discriminatory laws for the annihilation of particular races and it was considered as a breaking of law to â€Å"aid and comfort† members of these groups (Forji, 2010, p.156). The citizens of Germany, who had a moral responsibility to live in consonance with the tenets of â€Å"justice, and love for fellow man† failed to stand up to their moral responsibility, which led to the mass murder of millions and thus entailed the violation of common good (p.156). In this context, my readings provide me the

Utilitarianism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Utilitarianism - Essay Example The assumptions of utilitarianism are: 1) Human well-being is a common good; 2) Everyone should be included in the assessment of utility; and 3) The right actions promote what is good for society. The elements of utilitarianism are: 1) concept of happiness, 2) impartiality, 3) consequentialism, and 4) balance of good and bad consequences. Utilitarianism values happiness or utility, which is defined as â€Å"pleasure and freedom from pain.† Utilitarianism further places high priority on impartiality, because we should all be impartial to each other’s happiness. Each of us is considered as holding one utility, whatever our social classes and positions, and other defining characteristics maybe. Furthermore, utilitarianism is consequentialist ethics, because the moral values of actions depend on their total consequences. Finally, PU underlines the importance of balancing positive and negative consequences. The loss of utility of others should be justified by the increase in happiness of other people. Utilitarianism prioritizes the PU over subordinate moral values, but Mill argues for the assessment of the quality of our action’s consequences. He emphasizes that the quality of decisions should be more important than the quantity of consequences. Estimates of utility should give greater weight to higher quality pleasures. Higher pleasures pertain to pleasure from activities that exercise the intellect, feelings, imagination, moral sentiments, and other essential moral values. These activities allow for greater choice and responsibility. Lower pleasures refer to pleasures of sensation and are more passive pleasures. Mill also argues that it is important to protect civil rights, because doing so will lead to high social utility. The maxims of justice are additional important subordinate principles of doing the right actions. Utilitarianism assesses actions in terms of their consequences, but it can also evaluate motives and