This Week In Class:
A) We began to talk about ethics this week in class. The topic we talked about most was the quality of "The Greater Good." It was an interesting and dynamic topic, and I honestly am not quite sure what to think of it at the moment. With more discussion, I think that I will find a more concrete opinion about it. The Greater Good is basically the concept that something is not ethical if it does not provide "good" to the most people. The first mind stump we discussed was defining the term "good." We use it all the time, but what does it acutally mean? Dictionary.com comes up with 49 different uses and definitions for the word. "good." So What exactly does it mean? In the case of "The Greater Good" I think it means progression, positive, and betterement where the loss is less than the gain.
B) The main argument we debated in class was the difference between giving one homeless man a $100 coat, or feeding 100 people with the $100. Which is more ethical? They are both obviously honorable actions, and yet neither could necessarlily be considered "The Greater Good." What if the homeless man sells his coat for food, or even worse, drugs? What if with $100 you can't feed people healthy food, only unhealthy food like soda that will make them more dehydrated? It is a pessimistic way to look at things, but also a needed perspective. The class went back and forth coming to an answer. One of my classmates decided that "The Greater Good" was pointless because who gets decide what is better for other people? I personally, would choose the coat. The coat gives warmth during the winter, but also a monetary gain a man or woman can use for food, other clothes when it gets warm and just about everything else. I would definitley pick who I gave it to, making sure it was someone who would be able to keep the coat and use it wisely, but I feel that effecting that one person significantly is better than disabling hundreds with unhealthy food.
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C) To bring a different example into the mix, what if someone cheated, but didn't do well on the test anyway? Is is better to let the bad grade be enough of a punishment for not doing the work, or is the greater good to teach that person a lesson, and turn that person in for cheating? If he or she didn't even get a good grade, how is affecting the rest of the class? But what if that person cheats again, and this time: gets a good grade that is unfair to the rest of the class? It is for the greater good in this situation to be preventative, or let it pass and not hit a classmate while their down. I don't know what would be better in this situation, certainly cheating is unethical, and turning this person in would benefit the class, but the loss of that classmate's integrity would probably be as big of a loss as turning he or she in would be a gain. Does that make it the greater good? I don't know.
Question for next week:
I'm going to ask a few of my classmates about the above scenario and see the results. I will ask the following questions: How many people say to turn the person in, how many would say "let it pass"? And do they think the option they chose is ethical?
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