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¶ … Role of Memory in Shaping Morality
Oscar Wilde once wrote that, "The man with a clear conscience probably has a poor memory." The role of memory and remembering in shaping moral decisions is a concept that is central to sections of Hannah Arendt's Responsibility and Judgment and Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals as both texts wrestle with how one knows that an action is morally wrong. It is a question that goes back to the earliest days of philosophical inquiry under Socrates: Does the understanding of morality come inherently from something within man or is it merely inculcated by society and thereby remembered. Drawing from her own experiences as a German Jewish refugee and after World War II as a reported at the Nuremberg Trials, Arendt argues that morality must exist beyond the scale of the individual as there is too much variability within humanity's perspective on moral judgments. In contrast, Nietzsche argues that all men are...
In this essay, it will be demonstrated that Nietzsche and Arendt possess conflicting perspective on the role which memory plays in shaping human action and the moral value it should carry.
In Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals, it is considered where morality comes from in the beginning of society, "How is a memory to be made for the man-animal? How is an impression to be so deeply fixed upon this ephemeral understanding, half dense, and half silly, upon this incarnate forgetfulness, that it will be permanently present?" (pg 44) This line of questioning reflects Nietzsche perspective that what is called morality is only something "burnt" into the human psyche. Early man created morality and religion out of, "tortures and sacrifice; the most dreadful sacrifices and forfeitures (among them…
People feel strongly about many different issues, and they may be emotional and quite demonstrative about them, as well. For example, in the previous example of a woman's right to choose, the two sides are polar opposites and extremely emotional and sure that their decision is the right one. An "anti-choice" person may be highly prejudiced against a woman who has an abortion, but also against the doctors and
television on moral values has been extensively studied by social scientists. In 2007, a national cultural survey commissioned by the Culture and Media Institute (CMI) indicated that the news and entertainment media destructs the nation's values. A Gallup Poll on American's Confidence in Institutions (2007) confirmed some of these results. The CMI survey, reported that "74% of Americans believe the nation's moral values have declined over the past twenty
Moral Realism vs. Moral Relativism Philosophers have argued the merits or existence of moral realism and moral relativism for some time. Generally, the argument is designed as an either or proposition, where only one argument can be true. This is not necessarily true when one takes the time to explore what is meant by moral realism vs. moral relativism (Streitfeld). Essentially, moral realism is an objective view while moral realism is
Morality in America Morals are defined as a set of principles of right action and behavior for the individual. The traditional morals of any given society are the set of moral principles by which the majority of its members have lived over a long time, a consensus which that society has reached on what is considered correct and decent behavior. It is the way one's society expectsone to behave, even if
Morality and Ethics in Henry Fielding's Novel Joseph Andrews This paper looks into the subject of morality and ethics as depicted by Henry Fielding in his novel 'Joseph Andrews'. The book seeks to discard the notions held by 18th century English society in connection with morality and thus offers a better and 'more active' definition of the term. According to Fielding, morality was not solely connected with chastity and thus he
The principle of harmony's job is to take corrective actions when needed in order to create the balance of economic justice between the principles. For example, when the other two principles are violated by such things as unjust social barriers to either participation or distribution, the principle of harmony works to eradicate these barriers and thus restore economic harmony, or justice. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, economic harmonies is