What calls us to our code of ethics in life? It is both the environmental influences in life and the influences of the dreams we've held since childhood that make us who we are. In the early years of life children begin to create the dreams and ideals that they will live by for the rest of their lives; it is only after these dreams are set that the world around them molds their ideas of moral behavior and the journey to achieving those dreams into what they will become. The environmental influences thrust upon us in life influence our decisions and judgments that will be used to achieve our dreams. In the beginning we're all born with a vision; a direction in which we desire to sail forward to in our lives. Influences of the places we've been act as the wind pushing our sail, our passions and ideals in which we were born to act as the wheel. Sometimes the wind pulls us the wrong way to reaching our dreams; This is unethical behavior.
What is ideal behavior in life? If an a man robs a bank to achieve his dreams, is this unethical? By popular theories of Ethics, any action without a positive influence to affect our lives, and the lives of others is unethical. Anything against our own original ideals will automatically become unethical in our own minds. In the biblical story of Cain and Abel, Cain was marked for his sin by slaying able. Cain's jealousy was driven by his feelings of rejection from god, which eventually led to his act of murder. Cain let the gilded wind pull him the wrong way and chose an unethical action to follow his dream of god's acceptance. I agree with Tamar in the fact that we as humans are, "always searching for a way to be immortal,"and it's through our dreams that we can find this ideal state of being. Immortality isn't a life without death, it's a life that continues to live on in the spirit of achieving true greatness.
When you said, "In the beginning we're all born with a vision; a direction in which we desire to sail forward to in our lives," I couldn't help but disagree. You do mention the possible effects of environmental stimuli, but I get the feel that you subscribe most to the quotation above. I prefer Lawrence Kohlberg's take on morality (for those who have taken Psychology; that morality begins as a desire to receive reward and discourage punishment, then onto conforming to group ideals, and finally, creating your own ethical code. In some ways, I wish morality was passed genetically instead of being heavily influenced by our culture and media.
ReplyDeleteFrom the moment we were concieved, hell, even before we were concieve, we are infuenced by other people. Therefore, if a man robs a perfectly good bank, then the robber is no good, because he just did a deed that a lot of people aren't going to like, because they will be negatively affected by it. However, if a man robs a nasty bank, that say, keeps all it's money and never lends any of it, then, if the robber then distributes the wealth with the people, he will be the side on the moral high ground (Of course, if he had kept the money, then he'd be just as bad as the nasty bank). This is to show that how a person is percieved, as either ethical or unethical, depends on how he treats those who are percieving him. Is this to say that ethics is really more subjective than I thought?
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