Do We Have a Moral Obligation To Assist those in Need Essays

LD Aff Case Nov-Dec ?Most men have always wanted as much as they could get; and possession has always blunted the fine edge of their altruism.? It is because I believe in the wise words of Katherine Fullerton Gerould that I stand in full affirmation of the resolution at hand. Definitions (all by Merriam Webster?s) Individual: a particular being or thing as distinguished from a class, species, or collection: as; a single human being as contrasted with a social group or institution Moral: of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior Obligation: the action of obligating oneself to a course of action Assist: to give usually supplementary support or aid to Need: a physiological or psychological requirement for the well-being of an organism Utilitarianism: The greatest good for the greatest amount of people. a doctrine that the useful is the good and that the determining consideration of right conduct should be the usefulness of its consequences; specifically: a theory that the aim of action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number Unity: the quality or state of not being multiple RESOLVED: Individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need. Value Morality: a doctrine or system of moral conduct; conformity to ideals of right human conduct; a moral discourse, statement, or lesson Value Criterion Altruism: unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others. Contention 1: In order for a society to thrive as a whole, individuals must prioritize the society?s needs in front of their own. According to Auguste Comte, a French philosopher and the founder of the idea of positivism, the first rule/principle of morality is the supremacy of the regulative needs of society over those self-regarding human instincts that come into play. In other words, place others in front of you. It really doesn?t make much sense concerning the benefit of our own survival, but when a society is stronger, it is able to provide more help and necessary physical or psychological help to those individuals who are in need. This is a small-scale indirect example of reverse psychology, because: 1) If you prioritize society, it will prioritize you 2) You lose something, no matter how small, when you help society?s members in need, whether it be food, money, time, or anything else. 3) After gaining what it needed from you, the member of society will repay you back what you lost if you are in need. Warrant-A direct example and proof of this would be the checks and balance system we use in the US today. Contention 2: Answers the Question: Why should we assume that all of this gaining/repaying is really going to happen? If the issues of the society and its members in need are acted upon by those with the necessary means to solve these issues, naturally they would receive the same treatment due to our innate nature. Innate Nature- the sense of right in wrong naturally existing in one since birth; inborn; native. Innate nature has been proven by scientists to be the ultimate ideology of ethics. a. In a studies done by Jean Henri Fabre and B.F. Skinner on babies and their psychological impacted minds in the late 1920s (proving this to be a withstanding theory), Fabre and Skinner concluded that humans can ?feel? a common, universal, centralizing good when they are born. They all act the same, feel the same, and basically follow this ideal moral standard. They don?t have self-interest; they have a need for survival and inherent feeling of ?good?. b. If we are all born ?good?, then why are some of us bad? Proven in a highly developed experiment in the 1950s by Italian scientists Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen, we learn all our behavior and are immediately corrupted by: our parents?, friends?, teachers?, and other authoritarian figures? teachings, of our inherent goodness. We lose most of our hope to achieving a civil society because of the biased beliefs instilled in us by these figures. Also, subliminally, this goodness still lives within us, whether it be in our ?conscience?, sense of good and evil, or just our way of thinking. c. How does this tie in? It ties in because basically, this proves why society is ultimately going to give back to those who contribute