Kantianism

Kantianism: Nagel, Moral Luck Moral luck is a term used by Nagel to describe the external factors beyond our control, which act upon moral decisions we make. Nagels opinion is that people make moral decisions that may have good or bad intentions, but because of moral luck the outcome may be contrary to what he/she intended. Moral luck can be constitutive, the kind of person that someone is. Some people are born with certain characteristics, which enable them to be more virtuous then others. Others are born with a nasty streak of envy or jealousy, which makes it that much harder for them to make moral decisions. Another type of moral luck is ones circumstances. People are faced with different types of situations and problems, and certain situations make is easier to make the right moral decision. Nagel also describes two types of consequential lucks. One type is antecedent, in which certain consequences took place before the moral act and influence the moral decision to be made. The other type o! f consequential luck is the way actions and decisions turn out. Basically, moral luck is all the outside factors, which are beyond human control. These factors will determine whether a moral act turns out to be found moral by others or by oneself. A student may decide that he will not study for a specific exam because he intends to cheat off his neighbors paper. However, upon arriving to class he finds that all the seats but one in the front of the classroom are taken. The student, who had every intention to cheat no finds himself unable to look at anyones paper and must take the test on his own. This is an example of moral luck. According to Kant the student should be judged as having committed a moral wrong because Kant believes that moral acts must be judged on good or bad will. The student definitely had bad will in this case, however any Consequentalist would say the conseque...

Analysis of The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World

Analysis of The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World Colombian writer Gabriel Garcà ­a Mrquez (1927-2014) is one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century. Winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature, he is best known for his novels, particularly One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967). With its juxtaposition of ordinary details and extraordinary events, his short story The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World is an example of the style for which Garcà ­a Mrquez is famous: magic realism. The story was originally written in 1968 and was translated into English in 1972. Plot In the story, the body of a drowned man washes up in a small, remote town by the ocean. As the people of the town attempt to discover his identity and prepare his body for burial, they discover that he is taller, stronger and more handsome than any man they have ever seen. By the end of the story, his presence has influenced them to make their own village and their own lives better than they had previously imagined possible. The Eye of the Beholder From the beginning, the drowned man seems to take on the shape of whatever his viewers want to see. As his body approaches the shore, the children who see him imagine he is an enemy ship. When they realize he has no masts and therefore cant be a ship, they imagine he might be a whale. Even after they realize he is a drowned man, they treat him as a plaything because that’s what they wanted him to be. Though the man does seem to have some distinctive physical characteristics on which everyone agrees namely his size and beauty the villagers also speculate extensively about his personality and history. They reach agreement about details like his name that they couldnt possibly know. Their certainty seems to be both a part of the magic of magic realism and a product of their collective need to feel that they know him and that he belongs to them. From Awe to Compassion At first, the women who tend to the body are in awe of the man they imagine he once was. They tell themselves that if that magnificent man had lived in the village†¦ his wife would have been the happiest woman and that he would have had so much authority that he could have drawn fish out of the sea simply by calling their names. The real men of the village fishermen, all pale in comparison to this unrealistic vision of the stranger. It seems that the women arent entirely happy with their lives, but they do not realistically hope for any improvement they just fantasize about the unattainable happiness that could have been delivered to them only by this now-dead, mythical stranger. But an important transformation takes place when the women consider how the drowned mans heavy body will have to be dragged across the ground because it is so large. Instead of seeing the benefits of his enormous strength, they begin to consider that his large body might have been a terrible liability in life, both physically and socially. They begin to see him as vulnerable and want to protect him, and their awe is replaced by empathy. He begins to seem so defenseless, so much like their men that the first furrows of tears opened in their hearts, and their tenderness for him also equates to tenderness for their own husbands who have begun to seem lacking in comparison to the stranger. Their compassion for him and their desire to protect him put them in a more active role, making them feel capable of changing their own lives rather than believing they need a superhero to save them. Flowers In the story, flowers come to symbolize the lives of the villagers and their own sense of efficacy in improving their lives. We are told at the beginning of the story that the houses in the village had stone courtyards with no flowers and which were spread about on the end of a desertlike cape. This creates a barren and desolate image. When the women are in awe of the drowned man, they passively imagine that he could bring improvement to their lives. They speculate that he would have put so much work into his land that springs would have burst forth from among the rocks so that he would have been able to plant flowers on the cliffs. But there is no suggestion that they themselves or their husbands could put forth this kind of effort and change their village. But thats before their compassion allows them to see their own ability to act. It takes a group effort to clean the body, to sew large enough clothes for it, to carry the body, and to stage an elaborate funeral. They even have to enlist the help of neighboring towns to get flowers. Further, because they do not want him to be orphaned, they choose family members for him, and through him all the inhabitants of the village became kinsmen. So not only have they worked as a group, they have also become more emotionally committed to each other. Through Esteban, the townspeople are united. They are cooperative. And they are inspired. They plan to paint their houses gay colors and dig springs so they can plant flowers. But by the end of the story, the houses have yet to be painted and the flowers have yet to be planted. But whats important is that the villagers have stopped accepting â€Å"the dryness of their courtyards, the narrowness of their dreams.† They are determined to work hard and make improvements, they are convinced that they are capable of doing so, and they are united in their commitment to realize this new vision.