Ethics Final Essay

Throughout the semester we have focused on numerous ambiguities regarding Ethics. With Aristotle, we thought about the chance that is involved in making an ethical decision. With Rousseau, we thought about how difficult it is to come up with one’s own opinions. With Nietzsche, we were forced to ask whether the very idea of Ethics itself has a cruel or unethical nature to it. Even in those miraculous instances where someone actually makes a decision, i.e. Edward Snowden, there are no shortage of disagreements about the ethical value of said decision. Given all these misgivings and false starts, what purpose does learning and thinking about Ethics actually serve? How do we respond to someone who would see all these ambiguities as evidence that ethics should simply not be taught?

Possible Tangents: Has Ethics class made you more ethical? Can Ethics be taught? If we can teach it, how can it be taught? Who teaches Ethics? A professor? A priest? Is Ethics ever something that can be grasped like a piece of information? If Ethics can’t be taught, how do we learn how to better open ourselves up to the Other? Is that or isn’t that our responsibility?

Suggestions:

1) This question has the possibility of opening up to the space of confession. Remember, we discussed the ambiguity of confession, with Rousseau. So if you feel comfortable speaking about

yourself, please take into account the possibility of deception.

2) Make sure to include an example alongside your theory. You can ask yourself whether, after this class, you might now have a newfound orientation towards ethics when faced with a specific

scenario. Remember too, technology is rich with examples.

Requirements:

1) 4-5 double-spaced pages.

2) Use at least 3 quotations from the texts we have read, and use at least 2 different thinkers.