How Can We Tell What Is Good Or Bad? :: essays research papers

How Can We Tell What Is Good Or Bad? To tell what is good or bad, a person needs to consider what he or she considers to be morally sound and immoral. A persons morals are taught by their parents and from the society from which they are raised. Society is not worried about what is good or bad, but how to obtain money and power. Money and power can dilute the values of what people judge morally right. While the moral way of living would be to work a normal forty hour week to earn income, the easy and immoral way is to lie and cheat in their occupation to obtain promotions and benefits. Aristotle said, Every art and every "scientific investigation", as well as every action and "purposive choice," appears to aim at some good, hence the good has rightly been declared that which all things aim (Aristotle, 517). Today society is not aimed at good. This society has become a "me" society. People are thinking of "me,me,me" rather than thinking of the good of others. This society has found it acceptable for a football superstar to be found with an illegal drug to depart the judicial system with probation and again to play football. This is a true example of how people today in our society live their dreams through celebrities. People idolize immoral sport stars instead of holding in a higher regard common everyday people, who are God fearing, hard working, and ethically moral. While in this society it is hard to tell what is true, it is also hard when compared with other societies. For example, some European countries have legalized the use of mild drugs. These countries have attributed this toward less crime. Putting the question of right or wrong on the individual rather than, in our case, the government. In America the majority consider legalization of drugs wrong, but has it really worked our way? Are not alcohol and tobacco just as dangerous, causing mind altering effects, attributing to deaths and diseases everyday? Why are not these illegal? The reason is because people in our society hold a higher regard for the "almighty dollar" rather than the safety and health of their fellow man! Apparently this society has a double-standard. On one hand advertising and sending messages telling kids to "Don't Do Drugs", but on the other hand televising, for all the world to hear, a president admitting to smoking marijuana and hearing him laugh about it. This society expects the best out of kids, but rewards people who take shortcuts. Showing kids it is easier to live an immoral life rather than a moral one!