Thursday, October 30, 2008

Ch 3: Test and Assignment Reminder

Ch 3 assignment due on Monday November 3.

Ch 3 test is on Thursday November 6.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Three Senses of Conscience

Timothy O'Connell identified conscience as Capacity, as a Process and as Judgment.
The three are intrinsically linked and are necessary to effectively evaluate and act on a moral issue.
First of all, Conscience is a capacity of being human. Everyone has a general awareness of right and wrong. This capacity highlights our basic orientation towards the good. When we look at Sociopath’s and Psychopaths, we readily recognize our conscience and the search for the good.

Secondly; Conscience is a process of moral reasoning. To know right and avoid evil requires active interaction. Each situation requires us to act according to our conscience. We have to question our actions and respond according to the information we gather. Our guidelines are based on personal experiences, moral theologians, sciences, scriptures and Church tradition.

Thirdly; Conscience is a Judgment. Conscience is incomplete until you act on it. After examining all the factors..you commit to an action. An action that you believe is right.

In the end, Conscience requires that we recognize right from wrong, that we engage in a healthy dialgue to assertain the right course of action based upon numerous resources and that we act.

Conscience is our magnetic compass; reason our chart.
Joseph Cook

“There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts.”
Mahatma Gandhi


“Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.”
Stephen R. Covey

Conscience is the mirror of our souls, which represents the errors of our lives in their full shape.
George Bancroft

Monday, October 20, 2008

Ch 3: The importance of character and one's body

You become self with others through community and language. You also discover self through the body. For this reason, your "actions" are embodied and shape your character. Hence, the formation of character is the fourth trait.
You develop your character through actions. Everyday actions determine your reality. As a result the more your practice the more your actions will reflect your values and Principles. For example: if your choose not to drink alcohol then you must discipline yourself to say NO when you are offered an alcoholic drink. By saying No time and time again under different circumstances reinforces your stance on alcohol. Over time, the decision to say no will be secondary and you will not be tempted or persuaded by peer pressure. Others will begin to respect your stance and treasure you for who you are. If friends refuse to acknowledge and respect your choice then they are not true friends.

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”


“Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.”
Shaquille ONeal

“First we make our habits, then our habits make us.”
Charles C. Noble

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Aristotle

Ch 3: The importance of communication and language

Your stance in life is shaped through numerous experiences. You are part of a community and that community influence who you are. As an individual we are constantly influenced by others. The teach you what is wrong or right. In most cases, what we think and justify as being right may not be right.
If we look at community, we can say that our family is one group that has an influence on your thoughts and ideas. They help shape your stance and ultimately your identity. For example, your family may be religious therefore you are more likely to be religious.
Friends also influence your thoughts and ideas. They become trusted members who can have a profound impact on your identity. For example, if your friends drink then you are more likely to drink along with them.
Media also influences your identity. Most of the time we are caught up with advertisements and a suggested way of life. You are made to feel incomplete as a human being if you do own the product. This inadequacy is reinforced when friends and others have these products and you don't. For example, you may not have cell phone while others have one. As a result, you may feel anxious and isolated because you do not own a cell phone.
Within our community, language then shapes our identity. It allows us to discuss our experiences. It is a way for us to share our collective and individual experiences. These experiences also shape our identity. They challenge our established beliefs. Words bring order to a chaotic universe. We use language to classify, analyse, theorize, and discuss our concepts and beliefs.

"There is more than a verbal tie between the words common, community, and communication.... Try the experiment of communicating, with fullness and accuracy, some experience to another, especially if it be somewhat complicated, and you will find your own attitude toward your experience changing."
John Dewey

“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives”
Anthony Robbins

Ch 3: The Importance of having a direction in life

The second aspect of the human person that is important to ethics is the direction one has in life.Without a sense of direction we are lost. Without a sense of commitment, we wander aimless at the mercy of whatever is able to attract our interest. Most of the time we act on basic instinct and not on an educated, informed decision.
The commitments you make define your reality. They become the driving force behind your actions. Your identity will be demonstrated through your actions!! In the end, there is a direct link between your moral direction (stance in life) and your identity.

“Committing yourself is a way of finding out who you are. A man finds his identity by identifying. A man's identity is not best thought of as the way in which he is separated from his fellows but the way in which he is united with them.”
Robert Terwilliger
"The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself."
Thales

Undoubtedly, we become what we envisage."
"Claude M. Bristol

"The ancient human question 'Who am I?' leads inevitably to the equally important question 'Whose am I?' — for there is no self outside of relationship."
Parker Palmer

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Ch 3: The importance of others

The main question posed for this section is, "are you responsible for your fellow human being?" In Biblical terms "Am I my brothers keeper?" (Genesis 4.1-9) In chapter one, we explored three ethical theories. (Aristotle, Kant and Levinas) Levinas claimed that we acknowledge the face of the other and in that recognition, we are in service for the other. Levinas would say that we are our brothers keeper and that we are responsible for their well being. In this way, we are relational beings.
Our relationships and interactions with others define our moral and ethical stance. We can never escape our interconnectedness with others. Our actions are always influencing others.
In popular culture, this concept is contradictary to Levinas' claim. Our culture treasures independence and self reliance. We have established a system that rewards individual success. It is relational in so far as individauls are used as a means to achieve a goal. This concept has also been present throughout time. The Greek story of Narcissus highlights our egotistical ways. We are self absorbed.
Hence the search for the good is relational and involves others. As a result, individuals have to be aware of their influence of others. More importantly, you are a self for and through others.

“Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.”
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Chapter 3: Questions

Questions:
Page: 45 # 1-4
47 # 1-6
50 # 1-3
56 # 1-4
60 # 1-4, 7

Please remember to bring in an article that relates to a moral decision. You should be able to use the moral decision making compass, found on page 58, to explain the moral choice in the article.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Ch 3: Conscience: The self in search of the good

The chapter will continue our exploration of a Catholic ethical and moral theory from a philosophical perspective. Chapter 2 explored the conditions of human action while chapter 3 will take us one step further. We will explore how we become moral agents. One critical component for this chapter will be the exploration of conscience. In addition, we will explore six aspects of the human person that are important to ethics. The six aspects are:

1) The importance of others.
2) The importance of having a direction in life.
3) The importance of communication and language.
4) The importance of character and one's body.
5) The importance of conscience
6) The importance of the development of one's conscience.

These six aspects of our lives make us moral agents.


“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Ghandi

“There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts.”
Ghandi