I am an extrovert, an assertive, very emotional and decisive. I was born with these personalities, so I never choose them. I can never decide to be emotional on Monday and tempered on Tuesday because these traits change with time and events. I was born with my personalities by inheritance. My personalities affect my behavior in that sometimes am carried away when socializing and I end up wasting a lot of time doing irrelevant things. When am very emotional I do things that I end up regretting afterward. I am morally responsible for actions that result from my personality because every human being has a conscience that should guide him when doing what is right and wrong.
I had difficulty in making a choice between visiting my uncle in hospital and going to watch a movie with my friends. I later joined my friend and ignored visiting my uncle who died the same day. I later regretted not visiting him in the hospital. I can recall modifying my behavior when I was very emotional I used to shout at anybody who tried to correct me when I was wrong, but I later learned to be humble. One of my friends broke her leg, and I had to carry her for a very long distance taking her to the hospital.
As I grew up, I came to reject my parent’s beliefs of favoring a baby boy and neglecting a baby girl. Yes these examples indicate that we are not mere programs, our behavior is not inevitable, and we have a measure of freedom of choice. Therefore, we are not solely conditioned just to respond
I have ever been in a situation where I made an exception to the golden rule “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” it is not pretty easy to always rationalize and justify breaking these rules. I would not give any confident to anyone promises as long as he allows ethical loopholes. There would be no point in taking promises seriously if people are not observing the golden rule that governed molality and ethics
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Discussion 28: Determinism.
Think about your unique personality traits.
Are you an extrovert or an introvert?
Are you an assertive or passive person?
Are you very emotional, or are you naturally calm, stable, and unmovable?
Are you decisive or indecisive?
Did you choose these personality traits?
Can you decide to be emotional on Monday
and even-tempered on Tuesday?
Why or why not?
If you did not consciously choose your personality, then where did it come from and what caused it?
How does your personality affect your behavior and choices?
If you did not choose your personality, then are you morally responsible
for actions that result from it?
Discussion 29: Libertarianism:
Think about a time when you had difficultymaking up your mind. Perhaps you were not strongly drawn to either of two alternatives but you finally just decided on one of them.
Or maybe you were inclined toward two opposite alternatives, and after a great deal of struggle and deliberation, you resolutely made your decision.
Can you recall successfully modifying yourbehavior, or clearly predicting a friend’s behavior, or anticipating a response to a situation.
Think of something you did that was entirelyspontaneous and out of character. Perhaps your friends were surprised at your unpredictable action.
As you matured, becoming your own person, did you find that you had to choose which of your parent’s values and beliefs you would accept and continue to embrace, and which ones you wanted to modify or reject?
Do these examples indicate that we are not mere programs; our behavior is not inevitable;
and we have a measure of freedom of choice: we are not solely conditioned to just respond?
Discussion 30: Ethics and Morality.
Generally speaking, people think such principles as “Tell the truth” and “Keep your promises” are good directives to follow. As we have seen, many cultures have developed the same conviction as expressed in the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and cited it as the epitome of morality. However, have you ever been in a situation where you made an exception to these rules? Once we begin allowing exceptions to moral rules, is it pretty easy to always rationalize and justify breaking these rules when it is easy or expedient or convenient to do so? When you don’t treat moral commands as absolutes and allow exceptions to them, are you really watering them down into insipid rules such as, “Always keep a commitment unless you think it is better not to?” Do such watered down rules allow for so many loopholes that they in essence become ineffectual?
If someone you know always makes allowances for such ethical loopholes,
how much confidence would you place in their promises?
If everyone acted in such a manner, would there be any point in taking promises seriously?