Philosophy Ethics - Assignment Example

Philosophy Ethics Q Nietzsche provides a distinction between master morality and slave morality so as to explain human understanding of what is right and wrong. Arguably, master morality establishes its own values and stands beyond good and evil, whereas the virtues of slave morality include humility, sympathy and kindness. According to Nietzsche, master morality is based on strength and what is strong is good while that which is weak is wrong, therefore, those who have master morality are strong and have created their own morality and they judge themselves. For master morality, bad is seen as a failure and a defeat as well as loss of power (Solomon132). On the contrary, those with slave morality do make villains out of their masters and wish to make them slaves as well. Notably, master morality is associated with the powerful and the strong individuals, whereas slave morality represents the weak willed who are oppressed and abused, and they are expected to be submissive to their masters. However, both slave and master morality are expressive to will to power but differently in that, master morality “is the explicit recognition of the will to power whereas slave morality shows its will to power in the explicit denial of value of power” (Solomon 131). Accordingly, Nietzsche associate master morality with the nobles whereas slave morality with the herds. Nietzsche’s concept of master-slave morality provides an understanding of the conflicts between societies, and Nietzsche claims that master and slave morality have resulted to conflicts experienced in the society. He believes that there are always conflicts between the slaves and their masters or a strong group versus a weak group of individuals in the society. Nietzsche’s works on the death of God reveals that he believed in a literal death of God. By declaring that God is dead, Nietzsche implies that people’s beliefs and need for God is dead, and with the death of God, human beings are looking for something to replace Him such as scepticism, nihilism, utilitarianism among others. The death of God signifies a break in the past and new non-metaphysical unity among others (Stauffer and Bettina 239); more so, Nietzsche’s argument about the death of God emphasizes the significance of losing faith. Arguably, the death of God signifies the decline of religion and the rise of atheism, therefore, Nietzsche claims that the absence of high moral authority would lead to chaos in the world. Nietzsche claims that the death of God signifies the reversal of nihilism (Stauffer and Bettina 239), and so he argues that the western world entirely depends on the rule of God to give the society order and meaning to life and so His death would force the society to accept nihilism which he considers dangerous. Nietzsche argues that values are important for the wellbeing and existence of humans, and so by transformation of all values, Nietzsche meant that Christianity is not just a religion but also a predominant moral system of the western world. More so, Nietzsche states that Christianity elevates the weak over the strong; therefore, in the Antichrist, he condemns Christianity and calls for the revaluation of all values. Therefore, by transformation of all values, Nietzsche is addressing the Christians and those supporting Christianity. Q.2 The term gyn/ecology refers to the science of womankind as proposed by males (Daly 9); and according to Daly, gyn/ecology was an attempt to see through the deceptive and confusing patriarchal thinking about good and bad. More so, it focuses on the atrocities against women globally and in all periods of patriarchy and shows that they are interconnected. In short, Daly’s work gyn/ecology was concerned with the process of women’s becoming and the demotic obstacles to this process, the deceptive myths as well as the sadistic practices of patriarchal culture. Moreover, Daly explored the deadly myths that interfere with the minds of women and she recounts both the physical and psychological destruction of women by such practices like African female genital mutilation, European witch burning among others. Actually, Daly admits that what motivated her to write about the gyn/ecology was to address some of these abusive practices such as female genital mutilation, witch-burnings, and Indian Suttee among others (Madsen 342). Therefore, the moral significance of Daly’s term gyn/ecology is that it provides an essential ground for analysing and understanding the myths and various practices that affect the lives of women in the society. Daly’s work of gyn/ecology is all about the journey of women becoming, radical feminism (Daly 1) The term meta-ethics is usually used to refer to a branch of ethics that tends to understand the nature of ethical properties, and statements among others, and so Daly coined the term meta-patriarchal and breaks it down while explaining it, for instance, she posits that the prefix meta incorporates the idea of post-patriarchal since it refers to later happening. More so, meta suggest the direction of the journey into the background, and so according to Daly, a woman needs to transcend by taking a journey into the past, background and also the history of society, therefore, Daly created the term meta-patriarchal to describe the journey (Daly 7). Arguably, various feminists to address the oppression of women in the society have used the term patriarchy. Patriarchy represents the situation where women experience discrimination, violence, subordination, and oppression especially by women. In a patriarchal society, women are treated as inferior in all aspects in their lives; more so, in a patriarchal society is a male-dominated society where men are the patriarchs and superior to women. Additionally, Daly believed that gender is the basis of oppression in the world especially the unjust oppression faced by women worldwide (Telling), and she believed that Christianity is destructive to women because she claims that Christianity support repression of women. Moreover, in gyn/ecology, Daly establishes an understanding of gender relations especially in patriarchal societies (Telling). In the process of making this journey possible; Daly reclaimed language, particularly the power of naming, and used it as an instrument of liberation of the minds of women from oppressive patriarchal myths and practices. Daly used naming as a key language to create new symbols and meaning, and she uses unique forms of language to empower women discover their potential as well as their becoming. Daly’s concepts of meta-ethics and meta-patriarchal can be associated with the critiques advanced against ethics and meta-ethics because Daly entirely focuses on the myths and practices that are taking place in the patriarchal society. In her works, Daly does not view the society from a broader perspective. Q.3 Arguably, existential ethics acknowledges the fact that morality starts with a person’s fundamental valuing of their own being and their decision to continue their existence in wholeness. More so, every individual has a significant interest to manage the kind of life their value; and so in her works, de Beauvoir renders a “phenomenological and existential depiction of how a woman is perceived as the inessential” (O’Flynn 68). There are many characteristics of existential ethics; primarily, existential ethics is compatible with the known facts of human life, and secondly it is concerned with the wellbeing of individuals since it understands that every person is responsible for their own security and enhancement. More so, existential ethics is scientific since it is based on a rational analysis of reliable and credible evidence, and it can as well be tested and falsified. Existential ethics can propose certain claims that need to be tested. In addition, existential ethics provides necessary worldview to enable individuals to know the truth about themselves in the world from a broader perspective. Furthermore, existential ethics can be viewed as a secular since it rejects religious faith because faith involves believing in things that lack credible evidence to support them. Lastly, existential ethics is also concerned with integrity, for instance, it informs individuals to act morally especially when their ends and means are fully integrated with their choice of continuing to exist in wholeness. According to Simone de Beauvoir, there are some tensions involved in asking the question ‘who is a woman’? De Beauvoir was concerned with the definition of a woman because some people viewed women to be just like men while other perceived women to have no place in the society. For this reason, de Beauvoir posits that a woman is just like a man; however, she adds that men and women will never be equal even if there is a push for equality because they are different human beings with different personality, thought process among others. In most cases, women are considered as the ‘other’ which according to de Beauvoir is because they are in a way slaves, a man’s slaves as men serves as their masters. For a long time, a woman has been known to be dependent on a man, and truly, men and women have never shared the world in equality, though women’s position in the society has changed today. Even though individuals are aware about the abilities and rights of women, they pay little attention to this. De Beauvoir posits that the person holding more power, better jobs, have more opportunities for success in the society are usually men. According to de Beauvoir, women are known as the other because men have always been considered the first human, the most powerful, most useful, and successful in the society. In contrast, women are considered as the lower species in the society and they just happen to come into the world after the great man. Therefore, both men and women are accountable for women’s existence as the other because men remains to women’s masters and women are submissive to men as their masters; however, de Beauvoir considers the use of sexual differences to exploit women as unjust and immoral. De Beauvoir argues that the woman’s subservient status can be justified by the creation and maintenance of the mystification of a woman as the other (O’Flynn 71). Furthermore, human beings are rationally self- conscious with the freedom to make their own choice. Arguably, a will must have a causal power for it to be free and comprehensive. Scholars like Nietzsche argue that the will distinguishes individuals from animals, and so, preserving one’s will is an important aspect of human being to be able to employ creativity, imagination and skills. Therefore, one’s one will must be free so as to make the choices of their own desires, and this is considered an ethical act because everyone should be entitled to freedom of choice and make they own decisions without any influence. It is morally right to have free willpower and freedom because it guarantees individuals to make their own choices independently and this will enable women to stop being the victims of traditional myths and practices, and overcome oppression. Having free willpower is necessary because it enables individuals to own their freedom; possession of willpower enables individuals to have their own freedom to make independent choices. Women need to possess willpower so as to have freedom from all discrimination, subordination and overcome the common perception of the status as the other in the society. However, some free individuals could not be aware of their own freedom and so; they have to be sensitized about their right to have a free will. Works Cited Daly, Mary. Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism. Beacon Press: Boston: 1978. Madsen, Catherine. The Thin Thread of Conversation: An Interview with Mary Daly. Cross Currents, 2000. Vol. 50 Issue 3. O’Flynn, Pauline. The Creation of Meaning: Simone de Beauvoir’s Existentialist Ethics.An Internet Journal of Philosophy13, 2009: 67-84. Solomon, Robert C. From Rationalism to Existentialism: The Existentialists and Their Nineteenth-Century Backgrounds. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001. Print. Stauffer, Jill, and Bettina Bergo. Nietzsche and Levinas: "After the Death of a Certain God". New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. Print. Telling, Kathryn. Quite contrary: Mary Daly within and without Women's Studies. Journal of International Women's Studies. 13.6, 2012: p.32. Read More