Morality Journal 5: Special Topics
One paragraph summary of the section
The purpose of this section was to learn about as well as apply what we've already learned to three important areas of modern day morality: medical ethics, business ethics, and just war. We studied these through looking at modern cases in each. The key idea was that the moral teachings we've learned throughout the semester still apply in many modern day situations.
Three things I want to remember from the section
Just War - The story of My Lai - My Lai is a village in Vietnam where, during the Vietnam war, American troops killed thousands of unarmed civillians. Often these offenses get swept under the rug by most American citizens who choose only to look at the country as noble and just. While you shouldn't focus solely on negative either, it's important at least to recognize that America has made mistakes and we need to improve in the future.
Medical Ethics - The doctors' decision to treat Mrs. Burton - While the doctors later said that they regretted treating Mrs. Burton after she had a stroke and had little chance of recovering, I support their decision. From a moral point of view, the doctors had no input from the family and as it turned out her daughter wanted them to keep her alive any way they could. I think that the decision should be left up to the family in the case of someone being kept alive on life support, I'm glad that the doctors gave her a chance of recovery and gave the family a chance to make a decision once they were informed of the situation.
Business Ethics - Danny Meyer - Danny Meyer currently owns five restraunts in Manhattan, four of which are on Zagat's top 20 list. What sets Danny apart is that he wants to treat his employees like a family and try to help the communities he builds a restraunt in. He gives his employees a meal before each restraunt opens and he works to restore parks.
One image of that reminds you of the topic
http://www.turkcards.com/airlines/twa.jpg
(TWA is an example of what can happen to a company when business ethics are ignored)
What the most relevant question for you from this section?
Will I constantly remind myself of the things I learned in this lesson, especially if I choose a career in one of these fields?
What should you try to do to make you a better person, a more moral person, from this study of these three key issues?
To make myself a more moral person, I should inform myself more about the ideas taught in this section as well as looking more at the news to see how these ideas apply to modern life.