Morality

"The terms should and should not are constantly cropping up, especially in commentaries by religious moral authorities. The words also abound in rules of the military, the family, schools, sports, and games." (p.308)

I find it interesting when thinking about morality how religion often guides ones life choices. Growing up as a Christian you are taught the 10 commandments as a baseline of things to do and not to do. This has guided me well through life as most of the commandments follow the laws of most countries such as not to kill or steal.

But I always wonder if things were different would I blindly follow them or would I reason that they are correct. For example in certain parts of the world there are cultures that are okay with and some that even promote cannibalism. I ask myself what is one of the ten commandments stated that cannibalism was something that was normal or even encouraged to do. Would I eat another person and think nothing about it? Would I be okay with other people eating each other as just a normal occurrence like how people shouldn't steal or kill?

"Then he gives one of his final lessons before committing suicide by drinking the hemlock that will end his days: “Not life, but a good life, is to be chiefly valued.”" (p.310)

I really like the statement Socrates makes before he ultimately decided to kill himself rather than stop teaching and researching the truth of our world. In this life everyone wants to live well above all and not to suffer. I also think this helps people cope with death as when your time approaches you can be content with living a good life. I'm sure some people have regrets but most will say that it could have been worse especially if your surrounded by your family and loved ones at the end. Unfortunately I think this is why some people decided to kill themselves as they feel that haven't accomplished, or, will not accomplish anything worth value in their life. I find this to be flawed though as no one knows what the future has in store. I'm sure when Thomas Edison was young he had no idea the things he would create or Einstein when he started school.

 "Abortion might be considered right or wrong depending on whether an underpopulated country needed more pregnancies carried to completion."

(p.318)

I understand what the text is trying to explain through Bentham's reasoning for making moral decisions however I do not think its as simple as he thinks it is. The debate over abortion is a good example as both sides of the argument have nothing to do with mathematics or anything of the sort. One group feels that its murder as you are killing a child who otherwise would have been born into the world and the other argues that it is ultimately a human right for women to decide what to do with their body. Personally I do not support abortions as I think its taking away the future of a human being, however I also think that it should be legal as there are many circumstances where abortion is the only decent outcome (such as rape or health issues that might kill both the mom and child). If I had to say, I really disagree with Bentham's idea of mathematical decisions on moral issues because it completely negates the complexities of the situation that makes it a moral issue in the first place. My opinion "proves" this as topics like this are not always black and white and can be complex to a point that there is so many reasons as to why people do or don't support a certain issue.

Janaro & Altshuler, The Art of Being Human - The Humanities as a Technique for Living 11th Edition, Pearson 2016