Why is Helping the Poor Good?
While taking part is a local effort to create a community center that will provide aid to the poor I have met several people whom have very different reasons for helping the poor. Corinne is a cultural relativist who believes that people should not judge the behavior of others using the standards of their own culture, and that each culture must be analyzed on its own terms. Uri is a Utilitarian who believes that the aim of action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Lastly I met Kirk who supports Kant’s theory. He believes that our mind plays an active role in ordering and shaping our experiences. I have asked each of the why they thin helping the poor are good. I would now like to discuss with you their opinions as well as my thoughts to their responses on this subject as well as point our why we may disagree.
My discussion with Corinne did not give me an answer I could use in determining why we should create this community center. Corinne is not capable of reasoning through an ethical scenario in a logical manner. She could easily develop this ability, but only, in my opinion, to a certain degree. Maybe no one has ever explained to her why it is important to do so and so she never thought to try herself.
For example, Corrine does not seem to have any strong convictions about what makes a particular idea right and moral or wrong and immoral. She appears to just parrot what she has heard others say, apparently, without even understanding their rationale. The closest she has come to expressing a strong conviction is her pronouncement that it is impossible to define right from wrong; s ...