Ethics and faith

Introduction Education should be a right not a privilege. Woody Allen’s film provides a perfect platform for the discussion of the immoral and ethical. In this motion picture, he seems to support the defeat of the religious as seen through the death of the most religious person in the story – Ben. In order to make a comprehensive discussion, one must incorporate the views of philosophers such as Kierkegaard ad Nietzsche.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics and faith specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Whether faith should play a role in what it means to live an ethical life The events in ‘Crimes and Misdemeanors’ occur at a time when the state of morality in society has declined. Some acts can be permitted by law, but are not necessarily acceptable in religious circles (Crimes and Misdemeanors). In a place where God is not that significant, then certain unthinkable actions, such as murd er, are tolerable. In this case, faith had been suspended from the lives of those involved and one would argue that the main character – Judah – had also discarded morality. Nonetheless in order to know for sure whether ethics was not relevant in Judah’s decisions, then some insights from Friedrich Nietzsche would be in order. Nietzsche believes that morality can either be understood from the point of view of the slave or a master. The master often preaches morality, especially Christianity to the masses as a means of controlling them. He believes that people who act in accordance to religious moral structures are weak and powerless. Religion causes people to continuously regret or feel guilty over their actions. However, the master views the world in a totally different light. It is devoid of any moral laws and man can, therefore, curve his own path or define his own identity. The master is some sort of superman because Nietzsche believes that religion is a man -made creation. The master must now create his own set of laws or ethics that will govern his life. In the film, one would argue that Judah was the ‘superman’. He chose to abandon the religious values that his father taught him, and instead created his own set of rules. Although it was difficult for Judah to get over the guilt that haunted him after his mistress’ death, he finally transcended it. He was able to come to his ‘true nature’ by overcoming the weakness of religion. Nietzsche would say that Judah was strong enough to get over his guilt-ridden religious structure and find peace with his actions. The philosopher would also argue that Judah created his own set of ethics and thus triumphed in the end. It is only those who stick to their true sense of will who are the most justified (Kaufmann 122).Advertising Looking for essay on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On the flipside, ano ther philosopher –Soren Kierkegaard asserts that man must pass through three phases of life before reaching the highest consciousness. In the aesthetic phase, one is only concerned about one’s desires. Issues such as beauty, comfort and food are all that one thinks about. However, one can move from this stage to the ethical one, in which other people’s concerns become significant. Nonetheless, the individual is still the main focus in the phase. Lastly, one may opt to move onto the religious phase, where one’s commitment to God takes center stage. One’s dedication to one’s religious teachings takes precedence over all else; hence the mention of Abraham who was willing to suspend ethical believes for his faith. To Kierkegaard, faith gives purpose and meaning to the other two stages of life, so it should never be suspended for the other. In Woody Allen’s movie, Judah abandons his religious beliefs for his familial responsibilities, and thus rationalizes his actions. Kierkegaard would state that Judah retrogressed by going back to stage two. He chose not to obey God unconditionally, and thus ruined his chances of eternal happiness. This philosopher would assert that Judah never got to the highest level of consciousness (Kierkegaard 81). While Nietzsche’s views assist individuals in finding satisfaction in life; these recommendations do not necessarily mean that humans will act ethically. When God is eliminated from the world, then no right or wrong answer exists. All human beings then come up with their own ethical laws, which reflect the path that they have chosen for themselves. In a world such as this, there would be no mechanism to decide which one of the many ethical laws is more rational or appropriate over the other. This brings out the importance of faith and God in the field of ethics. Conclusion From the above reflections, it is clear that faith plays an indispensable role in ethics. Kierkegaard ar gued that one’s soul was not one’s own but the Lord’s. This is what true happiness is about. Although it may seem that Judah triumphed in the film, one still questions the ideal picture portrayed of Judah and his wife.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics and faith specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Even his mistress, Dolores, observed that he came to life when he was with her and seemed lifeless when he was with his wife. In fact, one should question whether Judah was really happy after eliminating Dolores. In a world devoid of religious laws, individuals are left to choose their own rules. They will rationalize their deeds irrespective of how unethical they are. Judah believed that he was doing the right thing by murdering the neurotic and indiscriminate Dolores. Human beings have a great capacity to rationalize the most extreme actions. Even Hitler thought that massacring a whole race was the greatest service he was offering to mankind. Nietzsche’s views endorse moral relativism and this leave a lot room for unethical acts. Faith and religion should be incorporated into ethics because they provide a moral compass for assessing the goodness of others’ actions. Works Cited Crimes and Misdemeanors. Ex. Prod. Woody Allen film. NY: Metro Goldwyn Meyer. 1989. DVD. Kaufmann, Walter. On the Genealogy of morals, NY: Vintage books, 1974. Print. Kierkegaard, Soren. Fear and trembling, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983. Print. This essay on Ethics and faith was written and submitted by user Juliet E. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Tom Joad Essays - U.S. Route 66, Dust Bowl, The Grapes Of Wrath

Tom Joad Essays - U.S. Route 66, Dust Bowl, The Grapes Of Wrath Tom Joad The story starts out by Tom Joad hitchhiking home after being released from the state prison. He's finally on parole. He served four years of his seven year sentence. While walking, he catches a ride with a truck driver who takes him to his old house, on his family's farm. While he walks the rest of the way from where the truck driver dropped him off, he meets Jim Casy, who is a preacher. Jim explains to Tom, that's he's been away from home trying to figure out some important things in his mind, and now that he's figured out all things are holy, he doesn't need to be a preacher anymore, but just to live with the people because they are holy. As they walk down the driveway to Tom's old house, they notice that there is no one there. Someone starts to approach them, and it's Muley Graves, who let's Tom know that his family are at his Uncle Jim's. So Jim and Tom sleep in the fields that night and start the walk the next day to his Uncle's house. Once they arrive, they find Tom's family packing up and getting ready to go on a trip. Tom's father explains to him that the banks and large companies closed out all the small farmers, and now most of them are heading out to California where there is supposed to be work. When everyone was ready to leave Grampa Joad didn't want to go, so they had to drug him to get him into the car to go on their way. When they stop to rest on the first night of the journey, Grampa Joad has a stroke and dies immediately. They bury Grampa along the way to California in a blanket some migrants gave them. The migrants were the Wilson's, who car had broken down. The Joad family offered to help fix their car, and one it was fixed the two families began their trip together. Once they reached California, Mrs. Wilson got really sick, so the Joad family gave the Wilson's some money and food and continued on their way. During the whole trip out west, Granma Joad had been getting sicker and sicker, Ma Joad finally realizes that she's dying. They had to start a long drive through the desert one night, and while they were driving Granma dies early into the night. A guard stops them during their trip and Ma Joad explains to the guard that they need to get to a doctor because Granma is very sick. The guard let's them go, and Ma tells the family to drive on. Once they make it safely across the desert, Ma tells the family that Granma is dead, so they must bury her as a poor person because they don't have enough money for the funeral. They finally arrive at a place, even though dirty and disorderly, where plenty of migrants were living. But the men are unable to find work. The Joad's pack up and leave when a contractor comes and asks if anyone wants work. The first person to ask what the pay was got arrested and was accused "red". A fight started and the sheriff told the whole camp it'll be burned. The Joad's are still unable to find work and soon they ran out of money and food, so they must look quickly. They soon hear of work in a peach orchard. Once they arrived they were escorted by a policeman and they immediately started picking peaches, so they could have something to eat that night. Tom wants to know what's going on with all the yelling and screaming outside in the orchard late that night. So he sticks his head out to find his friend Jim, who was arrested awhile ago, Jim tells Tom about how they are striking because the owner of the peach orchard had cut their wages in half. While they are talking some men come around looking for Jim, and once they found him they immediately killed him. Tom becomes extremely upset and kills one of the men. One of the Joad children goes about bragging on how Tom killed someone, and his mother finds him and tells

Business to Business marketing report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business to Business marketing report - Essay Example This figure shows how the company is progressing and has a good position in the market (Ellis, 2010). Hilti believes more on innovation rather on corporate acquisitions or of technology. Hilti follows â€Å"Champion 3C† strategy which means Customer, Competence and Concentration. They believe that customers are the key word for profitability and growth. In order to satisfy the customers, they have to fight with different competences. Companies’ model states that culture and people are the main element for the company. They say that product can be copied at any time but people and culture are always unique. Hilti’s product, market and channel management strategies are the â€Å"Product Portfolio Management†, â€Å"Market Research† and â€Å"Operational Excellence†. Hilti like other companies wants their product to lead the market (Ellis, 2010). A lot of market research is been done by the company so that products can be designed according to customer needs. Starting from research and development to after sale service is the motive of the company. The way Hilti design its market research program clearly defines that they only want customer benefits and value added products and services for them. To improve their internal employee’s efficiency and increase customer satisfaction level, they are operating their business function on a world wide area. Hilti has a leading position in most of their markets like power tools, fastening devices, construction related equipments and many related services. To grow faster than the market, the company increased their sales in 2012 (Ellis, 2010). Hilti has competitors like Black & Decker, Illinois Tool Works, Stanley Tools, Techtronic Industries, Bosch, Makita, Hitachi Power Tools, Wiirth, ITW Red head and Fischer (Ellis, 2010). Hilti was different from its competitors in customer groups, product categories and distribution systems. Hilti deliver their products through direct