I am not an eternal optimist The optimist can see that there is good in this world, which balances out the tragedy. The world today has a great moral center. We employee eternal optimists to help heal the wounds man has created, such as the United Nations and the peace keepers. With the events of September eleventh we can see the good in the world through all the volunteers, and donations to the victims families. When we see starving children on television our optimistic side compels us to donate, instead of questioning the help that our money will do. When the Americans dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, it killed hundreds of thousands of innocent bystanders.
This event brought outrage through out the world. I think that humans cannot appreciate how the evils encountered in every day life contribute to the best of universes and universal harmony, but they do, nonetheless. Optimism was attractive to many because it answered a profound philosophical question that mankind had been grappling with since the beginning of faith: if God is omnipotent and benevolent, then why is there so much evil in the world? Optimism provides an easy way out of this philosophical dilemma: God has made everything for the best, and even though one might experience personal misfortune, God (via your misfortune) is still helping the greater good. What was Voltaire opposed to? I think that the idea of humanity taking charge of its destiny makes sense only if we ascribe consciousness and purpose to the species; but Darwin’s discovery was that species are only currents in the drift of genes. The idea that humanity can shape its future assumes that it is exempt from this truth. The state itself, the first attempt at the rational organisation of society, is in collapse across much of the globe. Terrorist and criminal networks are sprouting up from under the rubble.
The Term Paper on Reinhold Niebuhr Good War God
Brian Drake Sociology of Religion Professor Brown October 17, 2001 Reinhold Niebuhr Theologian, ethicist, and political analyst, Reinhold Niebuhr was a towering figure of twentieth century religious thought. He is well known and is appreciated for many reasons among American theologians. Niebuhr had a very strong opinion and much to say when it came down to man and violence in regards to ...
Dangerous new technologies spread, germlike, beyond the control of any central agency. Without the outrage and destruction there would not be limits on the development of nuclear weapons and many more people could also of been killed. Even with all the atrocities of the modern world, man has learned from his mistakes and there is still good in the world today. Optimism is the positive and healthy way of thinking. People that have an optimistic view continue to instill morals and help to overcome the worlds difficulties. If something is wrong you know it is wrong because you can feel it, directly in your heart.
You can deny that it is wrong verbally but inside it clenches around your heart polluting your body with famine. This can be more destructive than the lie itself. Sometimes I loose faith in the power of truth. I see the corrupt attitudes of society and the shadiness of others surface. Sometimes I feel as though I am the only one being honest to myself and society, almost like it would be easier to be dishonest. Then a small miracle happens, I remember the strides I have taken and I feel the bond my family shares and I know that truth and honesty is the only way.
My emotions take me higher, but not without my intellect. My family is my everything, and when they threatened to leave me until I could be truthful to not only them but myself I fought like and angry fish gasping for air. I dont lie, theyre lying! We were both at fault. I couldnt own up to my mistakes and in turn almost lost the greatest jewel of my life, my family. Then I found clarity, but only when my optimism gave me hope for resolution, inner peace cleared the hurt, and the beauty of our bond became relevant did I learn that truth was the key to ultimate happiness. I began to tell them the whole truth and in turn regained respect.
To convince someone that this is the absolute highest moral value I would ask him or her to look inside themselves and look inside their lives. If truth wasnt the highest value, how honorable would the bond of your marriage be? How real would your promises be? How would justice be found? It would not, there would be no hierarchy or model to hold your convictions to, it would all be a messy chaotic confusion of lost emotion. I say lost emotion because without truth emotion would be lost. Emotion plays a crucial part in moral values because they are the bodies natural detection of what is wrong and what is right. When your spirit is lazy and your mind begins to give up; when optimism dwindles your hope, peace breezes away with a conflict and beauty turns to ugliness. When I have no faith to move foreword, not even tomorrow, then does the importance of truth leave me.
The Essay on Truth and Moral Propositions
Absolutism- there are absolute truths and, especially, absolute moral truths to which all human beings must adhere if they are to be moral. Relativism- there are no absolute of any kind, but that everything, especially morality, is relative to specific cultures, groups or even individuals. Proposition- A meaningful statement that asserts or claims something about reality and that has the ...
Sometimes I slip, and other times I hold on and know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and the fastest route is through my self and my inner truth. I would say my two most prevalent methods to finding my moral values are modes in which I arrive at knowledge through either emotion, intuition, sense experience, and deductive logic.. Nothing is more real then feeling something is right in your heart. To me emotion makes most of my decisions because I feel with my heart and my mind. It is how I have always been, so to come about with an answer only from authority, and/ or science would be totally foreign. Science is a synthetic technique relying upon math and logic.
I am a poet not a scientist, science to me is non-valid unless I write the theory and my theories are born within my own heart and emotion. The four most important moral values are optimism, peace, beauty, and truth. Without one you cant have the other, and without truth you cant have any of the rest. My morality comes from myself, not what anyone says, though I find a higher power in simplicity among the true great poets and the strength I find in my family. Never let go of truth, without it you, me, the entire population would be lost. Never loose sight of yourself because without yourself you will never find truth..