Even this, however, isn't so simple. As Paul J. Wadell tells us, "there is nothing simple about doing what the good requires."
I just concluded that I would fail to respect Shelly's dignity if I were to remark on her malapropism in a social setting. But notice what I'm assuming about my friends in assuming that this outcome is likely or even just possible. I assume that Shelly is so petty and her dignity so fragile that simply being corrected by a friend and among friends could embarrass her and damage her dignity. Of our mutual friends, I assume they are so fickle in their estimations of their own friends that such a small thing as confusing two words could make a lasting and negative impression.
Shouldn't I think better of my friends? Does it damage their dignity even to assume such terrible things of them? Consider an extreme case: wouldn't I be doing violence to Shelly's dignity if I assumed she's capable of gruesome atrocities or the most heinous of crimes? My intuition is that it would. Shouldn't it be the same case, then, with this minor assumption?
I must admit here that I don't know the answer, even though I think this problem arises quite often -- whenever I face practical decisions that crucially involve predicting others' actions. On the one hand, I shouldn't predict that someone else will act in a way that would...
Catholic church and public policy have remarked that the members of American clergy in general, without even excepting those who do not admit religious liberty, are all in favour of civil freedom; but they do not support any particular political system. They keep aloof from parties, and from public affairs. In the United States religion exercises but little influence upon laws, and upon the details of public opinion; but it
Hospice Care and Catholic Ethics Is Hospice care consistent with Catholic bioethics? Chapple, in her discussion of the topic "Hospice care" in Catholic health care ethics, argues that ultimately the answer is yes, but she acknowledges that there are levels of difficulty in answering the question (Chapple 2009). The ethics of Hospice care present us with a complicated question, insofar as Catholic teachings on end-of-life care have at times provoked public
euthanasia, including whether to legalize it or not. Today, euthanasia is one of the most controversial and emotional issues in the medical field because of arguments for and against the practice. It is the practice of ending a life in order for terminal patients to escape incurable diseases and intolerable suffering. Doctors have saved the lives of many patients with the latest discoveries in medical care; however, they are
Some authors show that, contrary to the belief that health care professionals are less sensitive than the general public toward the manipulation of the body, they in fact have great difficulty in allowing action to be taken on the deceased donor, even actions as well accepted as transplantation. Various authors have reported that, as in the general public, knowing transplant patients has a parallel in the hospital setting, and
Philosophical Dilemmas in Clinical Psychology My religious orientation is one of my greatest challenges, as a therapist. I consider myself an "objectively moral atheist," which means that I do not believe in the existence of any so-called "supreme being," or "God." I believe that moral behavior can be defined, understood, taught, and practiced utterly without reference to any supreme being. As an objectively moral atheist, my actions are dictated purely by
In "Piaf," Pam Gems provides a view into the life of the great French singer and arguably the greatest singer of her generation -- Edith Piaf. (Fildier and Primack, 1981), the slices that the playwright provides, more than adequately trace her life. Edith was born a waif on the streets of Paris (literally under a lamp-post). Abandoned by her parents -- a drunken street singer for a mother and a
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