3 In your own words, what is the eternal return?
Eternal return is a school of thought that believes that every event in the world as well as its associated cosmic settings will keep happening repeatedly in the same exact manner infinitely. For instance, the event of becoming a doctor will reoccur many times in the future. Also, the event will recur together with any associated happening such as one’s colleagues, salary, place of residence, sexual partner, and children, among others.
6 If you knew the eternal return was true, could you still make the reasonable decision to choose an altruistic profession? Why or why not?
Even if I knew that eternal return was true, I would not make a deliberate decision to pursue an altruistic profession. To begin with, I do not know if the profession I choose today will still be considered altruistic in the next life. For instance, one may choose to be a doctor only to find that this profession is not considered important or essential in the next lives. Besides, the doctrine of eternal return does not accommodate reasonable decision making. The profession that I hold or pursue today is the same I held in the past several lives I have had in the past and will remain unchanged in any unforeseeable future. As such, I should only seek to have destiny fulfilled in terms of the profession I choose.
9 Souza’s bloody TV program is popular in Brazil, especially the parts where he shows video of horridly dead bodies. How could a culturalist argue that the episodes should not be shown on American TV?
Laws are part of a society’s culture. A culturalist may argue that the U.S. laws prohibit the showing of TV programs such as Souza’s Bloody on the basis that it falls under obscene materials. For instance, the First Amendment does not protect materials that fall under obscenity category (Cornel Law School). In the U.S. obscenity laws prohibit fifthly, disguising, lewd words or pictures. Indecent depictions and materials are prohibited based on manner, time and place of exhibition.
15 Describe a business situation where discourse ethics might work well. Why might it succeed?
Discourse ethics reverse the order in which ethical decisions are made. It recommends the identification of the problem two or more entities are facing and the commencements of open and fair communications that culminate in consensual and peaceful resolution (“Discourse Ethics.” A business situation where discourse ethics might work is when two entities come from different culture or national backgrounds. For example, an entity in the U.S. may want to do business with its counterpart from another. The entity from another country may require the U.S. firm to bribe it before it can be awarded a tender. For the U.S. firm, bribery is a serious crime. In another country, bribery may be freely acceptable. In this case, the two countries hold different conception of the issue of bribery. In this case, the two different conception of the issue of bribery must be discarded and new rules formed on how to handle the problem arising from the interaction of the business entities from different countries.
18 An ethics of care is frequently compared to the morality guiding a family. Can you think of another comparison that encapsulates how this ethics works?
Ethics of care seeks maintain relationships by prioritizing and promoting the wellbeing of both care-givers and care-receivers in a system of social relations (Sander-Staudt). It is often liked with the working of a family system. In a family, every member has a responsibility to others. Also, each member benefits from being a part of the family system. Also, an ethics of care may also be likened with the working of the government. Citizens expect to benefit from having a government in terms of the provisions of security, education institutions, road network, and social programs. In return, citizens have a responsibility to pay taxes and work in professions such as the military, teaching, healthcare and others in order to facilitate the proper functioning of the government.
Works Cited
Cornel Law School. “Obscenity.” Cornel Law School, n. d, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/obscenity, Accessed on June 11, 2020.
“Discourse Ethics.” Web, n. d., https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_the-business-ethics-workshop/s08-05-discourse-ethics.html, accessed on June 11, 2020.
Sander-Staudt, Maureen. “Care Ethics.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n. d, https://www.iep.utm.edu/care-eth/, accessed on June 11, 2020.