For the past few weeks, my class and I have discussed and argued the question, What makes us human? We used examples and exerts from Mencius, Hsun Tzu, and Confucius to help us formulate our own answers and conclusions. I believe Mencius's idea that "the tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards." We are all born with goodness within, it all depends on the factors that affect us such as desire, greed, and curiosity that drives us to be evil. We also read an article in the December 2007 issue of Time Magazine called, "What Makes Us Moral?" In it were some interesting situations called, Moral Dilemmas. In one situation you are adrift on an overpopulated boat. You are sinking quickly and the only solution is to throw a sick member off the boat to save the rest of the crew and yourself. Now you know that this sick person is going to die, but by knowing this key detail would you still be able to throw him/her off? Could you make the life or death choice that no one else can? You have his/her life in your hands. Would you do it. I would, only because I know he/she will die anyway so why not save the rest of the crew. In the next situation "a runaway trolley is heading down the tracks toward five workmen who cant be warned in time. You are standing near a switch that would divert the trolley onto a siding, but there is a single unsuspecting workman there. Would you throw the switch, killing one to save five? Suppose the workman was on a bridge with you and you could save the men only by pushing him onto the tracks? (He's large enough to stop the train; you're not.) Suppose you could throw a switch dropping him through a trapdoor thus not physically pushing him?" (Kluger 57). Personally, I would use the trapdoor. I say this because I would never physically touch a man to save five people. I actually would consider diverting the train too. I would never push a man to his death. In the final situation you are in a war stuck in a basement with a group of people and a crying baby. You are hiding from the enemy, which is straight above you, and the baby decides that this is the perfect time to start crying. Now your stuck in a difficult and unethical situation. Smother the baby to save the group and yourself, or let the baby keep crying and get everyone killed? Now you are given the option to let the baby be yours or another person's baby. No one really knows what they would do in the actual situation. Most of us who say they would be the tough guy and follow threw with it are actually the ones frozen in fear in the corner. If it was my baby I probably could never even think about smothering it. But if it was the other person's baby I would lean more towards smothering it to save the rest of the group. Other examples were gathered from Hsun Tzu's "Man's Nature is Evil." I disagree with his views that all humans are created evil.
An example from my own life:
On one cool, fine winter night I was enticed by a sweet smell of freshly backed cookies creeping from the kitchen up the stairs to my room. As I used my ninja stealth I silently moved down the stairs and I noticed the room was clear. At once I lept onto my prey and took no prisoners. I heard footsteps in the distance, so reacting as any innocent young man would, I darted into the next room. The next thing I heard was "O MY GOD... WHO ATE MY COOKIES!!!" The voice was coming from non other than my dad. I went into the kitchen and I simply did what any good son would do; I blamed it on my mom. Now the thing I didn't know was that there was still cookie crumbs on my face even though I thought my quick swig of milk should have done the trick. The Jury (aka my dad) exclaimed guilty for murder of cookies in the 1st degree. I was sent back up stairs to think about what I had done.
Now the moral to this story is that one of Humanity's weaknesses is lying. That Lying is a way to cover up our desires. I desired more than one cookie and blamed it on my mom to cover it up. Also lying is bad and you shouldn't do it.
Written by your favorite student...
Bryan P. Tonti
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