Moral Dilemas Essay Example for Free

Moral Dilemas Essay This situation is a moral dilemma because Captain Ericson has to make a very hard decision, to either destroy the u-boat whilst killing the men in the water or to save the stranded men but risk future trouble and destruction by letting the u-boat go ie it is a situation to which his everyday morality cannot identify a solution. The ethical principles in this situation are very simple but it is very hard to determine what is best for everyone. If you sink the u-boat and kill the men you may have saved the lives of thousands of people in the future but at the same time you have slaughtered 40 hundreds of your own men who have done nothing but fight for their country. Having said this if you leave the u-boat and save your comrades from the water you have saved the lives of a few men but risked the lives of tens of thousands in the future. By destroying the u-boat he is obeying the principle of the military duty of an officer to his superiors and his country by destroying the enemy, and I quote attacking at all costs. On top of performing his military duty by getting rid of the u-boat he is likely to save the lives of the men on convoys that would be threatened by the same u-boat if it were not destroyed. Ericson shut and battened down his mind because it is human nature to doubt a decision directly after having made it; this is done because of our need for perfection. And so Ericson did this because he did not want nor could he allow doubt to enter his mind for even a second for fear of inaccuracy in judgement and failure to carryout his decision with precision. Also in order to be at ease with his decision he constantly needs to reassure himself that it was the right choice and this would be extremely hard to do if he constantly had doubt creeping into his head. Also he needs to block out all human emotions and pity for those men in order to make the correct decision. Some would argue that Ericsons actions were completely irrational because instead of avoiding violence and death which would have spared many lives he went ahead with his military instinct, as a result killing many men both English and foreign. Some would argue that he had the chance to come out of the situation without a slaughter on his hands, which according to the religious man would have been the moral thing to do. However we must ask ourselves what we are doing in a war if we are not prepared to make a decision based in military procedure and ethics for the greater good. Therefore from my point of view I feel that Ericson made a responsible decision taking into account the factor of the safety of other men in an extremely pressured situation, a situation which thankfully I will probably never have to make nor do I feel I would have the strength nor the character to make a well balanced decision and stand for the consequences. His decision may not have been the right one but there are always going to be people with different points of view on things but whether it was the right one or not is not really relevant nor should it be dwelt upon as everyone makes mistakes at some point in their lives. In this case it was his decision to make because his superiors obviously thought he was the right man for the job, not without reason and so he made the decision under extreme pressure and in a situation which did not have many alternatives which he had been appointed to make following not moral procedure but military procedure as is the custom during. And so taking all of this into consideration I personally feel he did the right thing. As always with a question like this we must consider both arguments. To be honest we cannot establish whether Ericson is a good person or not, as the case may be simply by examining one event as people make mistakes, that is what makes us human. Having said this there is no real reason to assume that his actions were a mistake and that he acted wrongly. On the contrary I feel that Ericson did exactly what a man in his position should do. He acted only after he was sure and only after taking into account the consequences of his actions and in this case he clearly felt that he would be acting for the greater good. In war it is the norm to sacrifice one man for the safety of hundreds of others and I feel that even thought his theory is not religiously moral it is still correct because in a time of war we have no time for things like moral issues, its either kill or be killed, the enemy will shoe no mercy so why should we. Therefore I do think that he is a good person as I simply think that he is a very stressed out man in a very difficult situation with the lives of hundreds at his mercy trying to do the right thing which is military procedure which he would have been taught; kill for the greater good. Having said this a religious man would say not necessarily that he is a bad man but that he made the wrong decision in this case because instead of avoiding murder which although is lisenced in war is morally wrong. He would look much deeper into the emotions of those men in the water which is exactly what military school trains you not to do, mixing emotions with actions can get you confused and in a military situation this can make you weak and vulnerable. Therefore in conclusion I think it is fair to say that we cannot really establish whether he is a good man or not but that according to some peoples views he made the wrong decision.

Creation of Identity in Chaim Potok’s The Chosen :: Potok Chosen Essays

Creation of Identity in The Chosen Many forces can powerfully change the identity of a person. In the novel, The Chosen, a few of these forces are religion, family, and friends. Religion is one of the main points in anyones identity and much of the book is based around the fact that the main characters, Reuven and Danny, are Jewish. In Danny's case religion changes the entire way he was raised, as his father puts it, "I did not want to drive my son away from God, but I did not want him to grow up a mind without a soul." (Potok pg. 266) During Reb Saunders explanation of why he raised his son in silence he reveals that both God and a soul were key factors, these being both religious. Another example of religion playing a part on ones identity is when the fathers of the boys catch themselves in a battle over Zionism, Reb says "I'll tell you who says it! True Jews do not say such a thing." (Potok pg. 188) Reb Saunders words in response to David Malter's opinion take a shot at Reuven's identity. By challenging Reuven's beliefs it is hitting his identity quite hard, the issue is so touchy the boys stop talking over it. Family is another big chunk of one's identity. Reb Saunders identity is changed through many experiences of his brother. This not only affects him but affects Danny as well, seeing as he was raised on his uncle's mistakes, "Reuven, I did not want my Daniel to become like my brother." His brothers mistakes challenged Reb to step up and follow in his fathers legacy, and when his son is caught in the same position it affects how he was treated. Family is also what you are taught by and things can be both beneficial and non. When first meeting Reb Saunders, Reb asks Reuven, "And you know Hebrew. A son of David Malter surely knows Hebrew." (Potok pg. 121) A normal child may not understand Hebrew, but in Reuven's case because his father is very religious he does. Your knowledge of the world is very much part of your identity and your family definitely affects that.

The Most Identifiable American Neo Expressionist Artists Film Studies Essay

Appropriation is defined as: The artistic pattern or technique of make overing images from well-known pictures, exposure, etc. , in one ‘s ain work. David Salle and Julian Schnabel are considered to be the most identifiable American Neo-Expressionist creative persons. These creative persons use appropriation to make new images from history, pop civilization and modern-day art. By borrowing imagination from a assortment of beginnings, their graphics is set apart from work by other creative persons. What sets Salle and Schnabel apart is that they do non merely put the borrowed images into a montage but they redraw or repaint the images taking their ownership of the objects. They non merely make an image that looks new, they besides create artworks the emotionally experience different as good. David Salle deliberately and carefully topographic points images that â€Å" mention to plan, to older art, to current political events, to foreign civilizations, to movie noir and, above all, to the slippery terrain of human dealingss, particularly those between adult females and work forces. † Salle ‘s pictures are most frequently physically divided into two or more parts. His pictures are officially big nevertheless emotionally intimate. There is normally a background that interacts with overlying images. While the background is slightly quiet or filtered, the overlying images are brighter and bolder. Womans are a favourite topic. In his abstract pictures the original context seems to be really vague. In other words, even if you know where the original image was taken from, it does nil to assist understand the significance it takes in his diversion of it. It can be thwarting to the spectator to digest all the images of Salle ‘s art. The imagination is a changele ss conflict between big and little, painted and drawn, one colour and another, shut up and far off. For illustration in Salle ‘s picture, Tennyson, he is able to get married together figuration with pictural linguistic communication. As kind of court, Salle often incorporates images and objects found in Jasper John ‘s work, including the name â€Å" Tennyson. † He besides uses a readymade object ( wooden ear ) to perchance cite John ‘s, Target with Plaster Casts † 1955. I instantly question the significance of the stick outing ear to the connexion of the rubric. The out of use letters across the picture perplex the enigma of the ear by spelling out the name of a Victorian poet. The wooden alleviation of the ear bids your attending over the picture of the bare adult female. The female figure lies in a field of a chocolate-brown xanthous colour. The colour field is interrupted by spots of greenish blue and ruddy which seem to border the out of use letters. The ear is placed in the upper right manus corner and is framed and highlighted by the bold spot o f greenish blue. The ear seems to be listening to the rubric of the picture. There is a sense of wrongness given by the bold picture of the poets name across the organic structure of the bare female. The first two missive of the rubric are painted different colourss. This suggests importance of the remainder of the letters. Is the ear hearing to the rubric as a whole or merely listening to â€Å" T†¦ Tocopherol†¦ † ? If so, how is it related to sensualness of the bare female? As with many other of Salle ‘s artworks the inquiries provoked are without simple replies. Salle appropriates images because he is attracted to them and insists that there is no narrative to them. He chooses images based by the temper of the scene and it is temper that he is after in his ain picture. Although his disconnected imagination does non ever seem to add up as a whole, he is still able to put an implicit in temper between the images. Much like David Salle, Julian Schnabel ‘s work draws on a broad assortment of beginnings and stuffs. Schnabel besides normally uses the technique of overlapping images and multiple canvases like Salle. Formally, his pictures are tremendous and over painted with heavy pigments. Schnabel chooses to picture images appropriated from bing art and the mass media which besides included attaching existent objects to his canvases. He seems to desire his pictures to do contact with the outer universe by presenting existent things and existent topics. His attack is non to arise against art of the past and alternatively to unite past manners. His combinative attack became his chief manner of picture. In contrast to Salle ‘s thoughts that self-expression is inappropriate, Schnabel ‘s holds high respect to non merely appropriation of imagination but besides to self-expression in his plant. He often features spiritual and, in peculiar, Catholic iconography and subjects. He wants to undertake issues of life and decease, agony, spiritualty, as in Exile,1980. Schnabel is drawn to the Baroque manner of picture and derives imagination from it. In the picture named Exile, a immature adult male is keeping a basket of fruit. This is a copied image from Caravaggio, Boy with a Basket of Fruit, 1594. The other piece of imagination is from a kid ‘s amusing book. These combined images are presumed to pull on the analogues between the Italian creative person ‘s isolation and his ain in downtown NY. Antlers are absolutely positioned on the canvas. The â€Å" utilize the antlers non to disjoin the surface of the picture as the home bases do but to add another distinguishable component of pulling to the composing. If cubism can be understood as the effort to capture 3-dimensional infinite on a planar surface, so Schnabel ‘s pictures seek to change by reversal that procedure. † ( 2 ) Merely as Salle was successful in impairing figuration with pictural linguistic communication, Schnabel ‘s success came with blending saintly subjects with a sign technique. Neo-expressionists as a whole are brave, bold and make bolding. Formally the pictures are typically big and are rapidly executed. They feel free to paint their ain desires, memories and frights. They detested the impression of painting â€Å" about nil. † Neo-expressionism brought back the romantic topics and traditional signifiers. Their ends were to make emotionality of narrative and historical content. Another common land shared between Italian, German and American creative persons is their ability to intermix tradition and invention, history and current events, emotion and look. What begins to put them apart is that creative persons tended to pay most attending to their ain heritage. â€Å" Peoples have withdrawn into their ain histories to seek to happen meaningsaˆÂ ¦ When Italians and Germans go back into their history, they ‘re traveling back to their strengths. A batch of Americans are traveling back to their beginnings excessively † ( 3 ) Although Neo-expressionism art can non be classified as holding merely one expression, the nationalities of the creative persons are reflected in their work. Anselm Kiefer borrows from Germany ‘s history, mythology and romantic symbols with work such as Nigrede, 1984. In the tremendous picture Kiefer expresses the centuries of struggle and desolation that occurred on German dirt. The canvas is enourmous in graduated table with a textured surface of straw and lead. American creative persons were besides bring forthing art along the same pathways nevertheless the procedures of allowing images were different. American painter Eric Fischl produced plants that distinctively have American mentions as in Fischl ‘s Dining Room, Scene 2, 2003. Transavantguardia creative person Mimmo Paladino, conveys the subject of life and decease through crude images by the usage of fables and myths as motives. For illustration in Baal, 1986, he paints an ancient Phoenician myth. The myths of his heritage are spirits that â€Å" have the signifier of the human being, and they control the life, aging, unwellness and decease of adult male with their mighty ruling power over nature. † ( 4 )

Graduation Speech College Is The Lock - 907 Words

On graduation day, universities and colleges grant their students with an official piece of paper stating that they have earned a degree of their interest. Most, if not everyone sees it as another form of money paper, because basically after the two, four or five years in college, this certificate is our primary income. The idea I see and hear a lot from the society and mostly from parents, that education will increase your chances of getting a job, provides you an opportunity to be more successful and be less stressful while making your parents proud. Summarizing these ideas, education is the key, therefore, college is the lock. At her commencement Speech in at Bowie State University in 2014, Michelle Obama questioned the decline in the will of African-Americans toward getting a higher education since 1800s till today. Michelle Obama stated that back in the days â€Å"Education meant nothing less than freedom. It meant economic independence, a chance to provide for their families†(1) Rather than pursuing a college degree, many of these students are either dropping out, staying home and playing video games are becoming footballers and rappers. They lost their understanding of the true value of education. We usually don’t just lose an understanding of something; there must be reasons that cause us to move away from something that valuable. In this case, one of the reasons is the cost of college education has skyrocketed over the past 30 years, as Bloomberg Business showed, it hasShow MoreRelatedInvisible Man Character Analysis1533 Words   |  7 PagesIf you skipped from the end of the prologue of Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, all the way until the protagonist’s eviction speech, you would probably pick up the plot and character developments without a problem. 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