Definition of Justice and Fairness - Essay Example

Many of us will be devastated by such a radical increase. We are already working very hard to make ends meet and will have no means whatsoever for generating the extra funds in time.

Our careers will be over, our dreams shattered and our voices ignored. Therefore, we are certainly not planning to take the legislation lying down. Some will manage to pay the extra tuition fee one way or the other and will not be forced to leave college. But they too realize that this increase will result in a waste of talent and a violation of merit. It will also reduce opportunities for young people and promote economic inequality in a society that is already haunted by its ill effects (such as unsettling urban crime rates).

Protests can be very effective as they can demonstrate clearly to lawmakers the unpopularity of certain legislation. They can perchance sway them, and force them to reconsider their allegiances. Protests and acts of civil disobedience are sure to swiftly put the issue in the media spotlight, which will get it the attention that it deserves. Protests can provide an effective means of mobilizing public opinion for a particular cause and can help earn support from a wide range of people. Nonviolent protests and acts of civil disobedience have been carried out for worthy causes in the past.

I intend to participate in such activities to make myself heard and draw attention to this pressing concern. Part 2 The realm of ethics (not unlike other branches of knowledge) is fraught with conundrums and complications. But ethical decision-making is a necessity. Society must conclude right and wrong if it is to survive. Often, it must stick to them and insist upon them with great zeal. The idea that every ethical precept must be backed up by inviolable logic and/or incontrovertible evidence is quite clearly absurd.

However, the practice of supporting our ethical conclusions with rational arguments is crucial. If we do not question our moral precepts, society will fall into dogmatism and moral absolutism. Also, whenever two individuals or groups arrive at disparate ethical conclusions then we can only appeal to reason (as a criterion) to resolve the conflict. It is a given then that the Socratic inquiry into the grounds of our moral values has immense utility. Moreover, all our ethical precepts can be objectively derived through reason, or (as some people call it) the Logic of the Situation.

But the legitimate demand of backing up one’s ethical precepts with reasons is not to be conflated with the impossible demand for an unassailable foundation upon which morality can be based. Debates and arguments will continue till eternity, but in the meantime, humanity must conclude several crucial issues (about which indecision is not a possibility). The reason, though, is only half the story. All human beings have an inner moral sense which helps them arrive at ethical conclusions.