The Basic Position Of Ethical Naturalism Philosophy Essay

The Basic Position Of Ethical Naturalism Philosophy Essay This paper will show the basic position of ethical naturalism, also discuss ways in which science can arguably, and enhance our understanding of morality. I will give descriptions and examples of ethical naturalism to support this passage, it will illustrate various ways science can enhance our understanding of morality as well. Naturalism, sometimes also called definism, is a theory in meta-ethics that holds that ethical terms can be defined; the meaning of ethical sentences can be given in very non-ethical terms. Naturalism is the view that ethical sentences express propositions and that they can be reduced to non-ethical sentences. Non-reductive ethical naturalism holds that moral properties are not reducible to non-moral properties, but are supervenient upon those properties. Naturalistic ethics: a theory of moral behavior according to which ethics is an empirical science. Ethical statements are reduced to the natural sciences (physical or social), and ethical questions are answered wholly based on the findings of those sciences. Ethical naturalism take on several different forms, one of the bigger difficulties in the articulation of the theory is multifarious definitions on nature, natural, and natural law. Some examples of ethical naturalism are, ethical values are reducible to natural properties; a go od action is an action in conformity with the proper function of a thing as in the Stoics notion of activities which are consequential upon a things nature. Ethical values are a distinctive kind property not reducible to those studied by the physical sciences but possibly studied by the social sciences. In a sense, a nihilist can be thought of as one kind of ethical naturalist. Nihilism is the doctrine that there are no moral facts, no moral truths, and no moral knowledge. Moreover, nihilism, as the belief that life is insignificant and death is the end of life, is a doctrine that denies that traditional values, including moral truths, exist. Some nihilists hold that morality is merely a superstitious remnant of religion. Religious morality is fragile when related to science, it is a common idea for the religious, that morality would be pointless if the universe is simply going to die of heat death and that everything, along with us, will cease to exist. A salient philosophical obje ction to ethical naturalism is described by G.E. Moore as the naturalistic fallacy. He argues that the question of goodness can still be raised as to whether a natural property is good. What are proper functions of a person what might not actually be good for them. However, even if they were, they are not the same as, or the definition of, what is good. The first area where science can improve our morality is through simple scientific literacy. Our moral IQ can be informed simply through a broader scientific understanding. With our new understanding of genetics through science, we know more about the diseases of the mind such as bi-polar, manic depression, panic disorder, PTSD, and chemical imbalances we will no longer mistake someones odd behavior as being possessed. Science helps us understand morality better through the study of genetics, we now know more in the way of people. Therefore, we can say that moral progress is tied to scientific progress. As wellbeing is a universal go al for conscious beings, the scientifically informed view of morality in face of this kind of argument could be, we only experience the present, we can only influence the future from through the present, and so in this sense, the present is the only meaningful experience we can discuss. We can say that what increases wellbeing is a scientific question, but that we should increase wellbeing isnt. However, how do we come up with an idea of what is good? What is our basis for saying anything is good? What states lead us to conclude goodness? We cannot through the scientific process ask what is good, but in the sense of understanding the framework of basis for the concept of good, science is a required part. To look at morality in a scientific aspect, if we say life is good then living a good life means living healthy. A scientific inquiry, the methods of science can determine the kinds of diets, exercise regimes, and even health care policies that promote or lead to good health and the avoidance of physical suffering. On this basis, we may be able to say that certain diets or health care initiatives are objectively better or worse than others are. Therefore, we can say people have a moral obligation to be healthy. Using science (natural), we can also say that incest is morally wrong. Science has proven that when two closely related human beings procreate, it substantially increases the likelihood of two deleterious (toxic) recessive genes coming together and producing any of a large variety of conditions that interfere with health. Two people that procreate their differing genetic ancestries are extremely unlikely to carry the same deleterious genes. Many people take many different views on ethics and morality, a lot of discussion on ethical naturalism. With all these different views, science brings forth more and more information all the time and can arguably enhance our understanding of morality, and relationship between ethics and morality. References: Ethics, Crime, and Criminal Justice. Second Edition, pg. 69, Authors: Christopher R. Williams, Bruce A. Arrigo http://dguilbeault.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/science-and morality/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_naturalism http://www.lumrix.net/medical/ethics/ethical_naturalism.html http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/naturalism/html

Art Tatum Essay

From the time Tatum was born on Oct. 13, 1909 in Toledo, Ohio, he was destined for revolutionizing jazz. He was born with a blind eye and the other partially blind, but his ears were his way of seeing the world. He could sit down and play the same music meant for four hands. He was unbeatable at any piano competition. His influence on jazz will be forever respected by jazz pianists (and non-pianists) worldwide. As a child, Art received a little formal training for piano at Toledo School of Music, but he mainly just taught himself. By the age of 18, he was already playing for radio broadcasts and even had his own show at one point. By age 24, he wrote and released â€Å"Tiger Rag,† a song fully equipped with fast beats, incredibly technical rhythms, and the need for skill. As he continued in his musical career, his articulation, style, and individuality only got better. Art changed the entire face of jazz music. He helped lead the next generation into the bebop era. He was the musician that started to change the chord progressions, fingered with the harmonics, and tried new inversions of different chords (to get a more â€Å"jazzy† sound). Tatum was able to use his classical background and his jazzy style to create his own type of music. It was technical and complex, but still full of the freestyle that jazz so easily expresses. He used his left-handedness to create extreme bass parts and his right hand to create beautiful runs up and down the entire piano. Art had incredible ears. Although he was nearly blind in one eye and completely blind in the other, he could see perfectly when it came to music. It was said that Tatum could find the dominant note in a flushing toilet. He had incredible pitch, so he knew exactly which notes would sound perfect with the others. In regard to his piano, they called him, â€Å"God† because he was so good. Tatum never stopped playing piano. It was his life. As one man said, â€Å"Tatum played so brilliantly and so much†¦that I thought the piano was gonna break. My mother left the room†¦so I said ‘What’s wrong, Mama?’ And she said ‘Oh, that man plays too much piano.'† Even extremely critical people would compliment him for his piano skills. Whenever he ever entered a competition for piano, he never lost. Art’s style of music was not the simple, easy music that anybody could play. His technique was mastered. He had the most intricate ornamentation in every line of a song he played. Not only that, but he didn’t even seem like he was trying. As he pounded away at the keys, it didn’t seem like pounding but more floating. It seemed so effortless to him. Hank Jones said, â€Å"When I finally met him and got a chance to hear him play in person, it seemed as if he wasn’t really exerting much effort, he had an effortless way of playing. It was deceptive. You’d watch him and you couldn’t believe what was coming out, what was reaching your ears. He didn’t have that much motion at the piano. He didn’t make a big show of moving around and waving his hands and going through all sorts of physical gyrations to produce the music that he produced, so that in itself is amazing. There had to be intense concentration there, but you couldn’t tell by just looking at him play.† Tatum was revolutionary. He led future jazz musicians into the next era of jazz. He had the skill and the mind of a genius, and for that, he will never be forgotten. Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Tatum#Style http://www.duke.edu/~njh3/biography.html

Home vs Apartment Essay

Ever had to wonder if either to own a house or rent an apartment? These two materialistic items that give us shelter have there comparisons and differences. Many people decide to rent an apartment because they do not have money to buy a home. On the contrary, people sometimes do not like to live in apartments because of the lifestyle it has. Whether a house or an apartment, what’s the difference and what’s similar? A house and an apartment both have similarities. One of the similarities is that they both require rent. Rent depends on where the area the apartment or home is at and how big it is. The cost of living is often high under any shelter because it protects you from the outside weather and gives you a place to sleep. In addition, the monthly rent amount is sometimes the same at a home as well. Another comparison that these two have are they both have variable amount of rooms and baths. They vary to a one bedroom and a one bath to a 5 bedroom and 3 bath apartment, in which this also applies also to a home. Although, a home has a better chance on having more than an apartment. Depending on how many rooms and bath a person would like, there is a way to get that. The most important similarity is that they both provide shelter. Shelter is important because it provides a sense of security and a place of belonging. Everyone would like to live under a roof and, a home and an apartment, both successfully accomplish this. whether it be small or big, they both provide shelter. Besides the comparisons, these two have differences. One of the most obvious differences between these two is that living in an apartment allows easy mobility to move. In order to move from a home, there is more difficulty due to signing a loan out in order to buy the house. In an apartment, the person leases for a certain amount of time and then can either renew it or move. With a home it is more difficult because it requires to sell the home and also the loan that was taken out to be paid off. Another difference is that in an apartment you do not have the option to remodel the inside. In a home, since it is the homeowners property, they can remodel all they want. For example they can knock down walls, paint and add additional rooms. Another difference are how close the neighbors are. In an apartment, the neighbors are door to door. Sometimes the people on the bottom half of the apartment hear everything you do if you are on the top floor. There also a low tolerance of loud noises. For example, turning up the radio and listening to it loud can make the neighbors mad and make a  complaint about you. In the contrary, living in a home, the neighbors are more distant. The noise level does not really matter because many people do not complain. After comparing and contrasting both an apartment and a home, they both have their pros and cons. Apartments are easy to move from but do not have more to offer. On the other hand, a house gives more options to do anything but it also limits mobility to move. An apartment and a home have their similarities along with their differences.

How the Phoenicians Settled Carthage

Phoenicians from Tyre (Lebanon) founded Carthage, an ancient city-state in the area that is modern Tunisia. Carthage became a major economic and political power in the Mediterranean fighting over territory in Sicily with the Greeks and Romans. Eventually, Carthage fell to the Romans, but it took three wars. The Romans destroyed Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War, but then rebuilt it as a new Carthage. Carthage and the Phoenicians Although Alpha and Beta are Greek letters that give us our word alphabet, the alphabet itself comes from the Phoenicians, at least conventionally. Greek myth and legend credit the dragon-teeth-sowing Phoenician Cadmus as not only founding the Boeotian Greek city of Thebes but bringing the letters with him. The 22-letter abecedary of the Phoenicians contained only consonants, some of which had no equivalent in Greek. So the Greeks substituted their vowels for the unused letters. Some say that without the vowels, it was not an alphabet. If vowels arent required, Egypt can also make a claim for the earliest alphabet. Were this the only contribution of the Phoenicians, their place in history would be assured, but they did more. So much, it seems as though jealousy prompted the Romans to set out to annihilate them in 146 B.C.  when they razed Carthage and were rumored to have salted its earth. The Phoenicians are also credited with: Inventing glass.The bireme (two tiers of oars) galley.The luxurious purple dye is known as Tyrian.Circumnavigating Africa.Navigating by the stars. The Phoenicians were merchants who developed an extensive empire almost as a by-product of their quality merchandise and trading routes. They are believed to have gone as far as England to buy Cornish tin, but they started in Tyre, in an area now part of Lebanon, and expanded. By the time the Greeks were colonizing Syracuse and the rest of Sicily, the Phoenicians were already (9th century B.C.) a major power in the middle of the Mediterranean. The principal city of the Phoenicians, Carthage, was located near modern Tunis, on a promontory on the Northern Coast of Africa. It was a prime spot for access to all areas of the known world. The Legend of Carthage After the brother of Dido (famed for her role in Vergils Aeneid) killed her husband, Queen Dido fled her palace home in Tyre to settle in Carthage, North Africa, where she sought to buy land for her new settlement. Coming from a nation of merchants she cleverly asked to buy an area of land that would fit within an ox hide. The local inhabitants thought she was a fool, but she got the last laugh when she cut the oxhide (byrsa) into strips to enclose a large area, with the sea coast acting as one border. Dido was the queen of this new community. Later, Aeneas, on his route from Troy to Latium, stopped in Carthage where he had an affair with the queen. When she found that he had abandoned her, Dido committed suicide, but not before cursing Aeneas and his descendants. Her story is an important part of Vergils Aeneid and supplies a motive for the hostility between the Romans and Carthage. At length, in dead of night, the ghost appearsOf her unhappy lord: the specter stares,And, with erected eyes, his bloody bosom bares.The cruel altars and his fate he tells,And the dire secret of his house reveals,Then warns the widow, with her household gods,To seek a refuge in remote abodes.Last, to support her in so long a way,He shows her where his hidden treasure lay.Admonishd thus, and seizd with mortal fright,The queen provides companions of her flight:They meet, and all combine to leave the state,Who hate the tyrant, or who fear his hate....At last they landed, where from far your eyesMay view the turrets of new Carthage rise;There bought a space of ground, which (Byrsa calld,From the bulls hide) they first inclosd, and walld.Translation from (www.uoregon.edu/~joelja/aeneid.html) of Vergils Aeneid Book I Vital Differences of the People of Carthage The people of Carthage seem more primitive compared to modern sensibilities than the Romans or Greeks for one main reason: They are said to have sacrificed humans, babies, and toddlers (possibly their first born to ensure fertility). There is controversy over this. Its hard to prove one way or the other since millennia-old human remains dont easily tell whether the person was sacrificed or died some other way. Unlike the Romans of their time, the leaders of Carthage hired mercenary soldiers and had a capable navy. They were extremely adept at trade, a fact that allowed them to rebuild a profitable economy even after the setbacks of military defeat during the Punic Wars, which included  a yearly tribute to Rome of almost 10 tons of silver. Such wealth allowed them to have paved streets and multi-story homes, compared with which proud Rome looked shabby. Source North African News Letter 1, by John H. Humphrey. American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 82, No. 4 (Autumn, 1978), pp. 511-520