Morality & Ethics Essay Example for Free

Morality Ethics Essay J. M. FINNIS: Rules made, in accordance with regulative legal rules, by a determinate and effective authority (itself identified and standard constituted as an institution by legal rules) for a ‘complete’ community, and buttressed by sanctions in accordance with the rule-guided stipulations of adjudicative institutions. [1] NATURALISTS ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: A rational ordering of things which concern the common good, promulgated by whoever is charged with the care of the community. [2] SOCIOLOGISTS ROSCOE POUND: Law is more than a set of abstract norms, it is also a process of balancing conflicting interests and securing the satisfaction of the maximum wants with the minimum of friction. [3] WHAT IS MORALITY? No single definition can be offered to describe what morality is, but in general morality can be understood as a rule prescribing between what is wrong and what is wrong. It could also mean a value of the acceptable and unacceptable norm of a given society. Some reserve terms moral and immoral only for the realm of sexuality and use the words ethical and unethical instead of the word moral when discussing how the business and professional communities should behave towards their members or toward the public. [4] RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY 1. The existence of unjust laws proves that morality and law are not identical and do not coincide. 2. The existence of laws that serve to defend basic values, law and morality can work together. 3. Laws can state what overt offenses count as wrong and punishable. 4. Laws govern conduct at least partly through fear of punishment. 5. Morality can influence the law in the sense that it can provide the reason for making whole groups of immoral elections illegal. 6. Law can be a public expression of morality which codifies in a public way the basic principles of conduct which a society accepts. [5] PUBLIC PROSECUTOR v MOHD ROMZAN BIN RAMLI[6] BRIEF EXPLANATION ON THE CASE: Mohd Romzan bin Ramli was charged under the offence of incest under the provision of section 376A of the Penal Code- a person is said to commit incest if he or she has sexual intercourse with another person whose relationship to him or her is such that he or she is prohibited, under the law, religion, custom or usage applicable to him or her, to marry that person; and was sentenced to six years of imprisonment and one stroke of rotan under section 376B(1)- punish with imprisonment between 6 to 20 years and whipping; of the same Code. The accused had committed the crime in between early January 2006 to 26th May 2006 in a room at his house in Kulai, Johor Bharu, Johor. To an 11-year old girl, Nurul Atikah bte Abdul Kadir, which is also his stepdaughter. In 2006, the girl was forced to undress by the accused and was disturbed sexually by him. He had done the disturbance to her several times. In addition, he threatened her not to tell anyone and had beaten her. Father of the victim, lodged a police report after he had noticed changes in his daughter after he had picked her from his ex-wife’s home. After medical check-ups were done by the doctor, the victim suffered from injuries in her private part and was treated by a psychologist. The accused pleaded guilty in front of the judge,Zawawi Salleh in the High Court of Johor Bharu, prosecuted by the Deputy Public Prosecutor, Husmin Hussin (Johor, State Legal Advisor Office). However, his sentences was changed to eleven years of imprisonment and three strokes of rotan, after the case was appealed to the High Court Of Johor Bharu from the Sessions Court Johor Bharu. The sentences were changed as it was unfair to the victim by taking her trauma and injuries into account and the public views about this case. OPINION/CONCLUSION In my opinion, the action of appealing the judgement made by the Sessions Court of Johor Bharu was a just and fair decision. Six years of imprisonment with one stroke of rattan is too little compared to the crime. According to John Austin, he defines law as a command given by a sovereign who may be a King, council or parliament. Such a command in his view is backed by coercion so that any person who violates the law, suffer the pain provided by law. [7] The accused needs to be punished for what he had done to the victim. The victim was just a little, innocent girl compared to him whose already old enough to think about right and wrong. Secondly, punishments for committed crimes are not only to punish the criminals, it is also as a deterrence to the public to not commit the same crime as they will be punished in accordance with the law too. Six years imprisonment and one stroke of rattan are not sufficient enough to deter the crime. As John Austin stated on why do we have to obey the law? It is because of the fear of sanction. Austin view is the fear by which the law, by its coercive power, strikes in the heart of the people is what makes people obey the law. If we remove the element of fear from the law, it would not be obeyed as there would be no deterrence. In other words, if a law is made without sanction, it would be disobeyed. [8] Lastly, after the High Court Judge of Johor Bharu sentenced the accused to eleven years of imprisonment and three strokes of rattan, only then, the justice can be seen. Bentham refers justice as maximum happiness of maximum number of people. [9] The public’s views on the case are also need to be considered. Minimum sentences given could cause an uproar in the society. Even Hart mentioned that justice is a shared concept; everybody wants justice seen and done. This is also supported by the aim of having law is to maintain peace and harmony. [1] M. D. A Freeman, Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence, page 178. [2] M. D. A Freeman, Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence, page 143. [3] Hari Chand, Modern Jurisprudence, 1994, International Law Book Services, Kuala Lumpur, page 205. [4] Jacques T. Ethics Theory and Practice, (5th ed. ). New Jersey: Prentice Hall, (1995): 3. [5] Basic Observations on Law and Morality. 10 September 2001. Web. 13 August 2012. [6] â€Å"Public Prosecutor v Mohd Romzan bin Ramli. † Malayan Law Journal, 22nd January 2012. Web. 13th August 2012. . [7] Hari Chand, Modern Jurisprudence, page 72,80,81. [8] Hari Chand, Modern Jurisprudence, page 74. [9] â€Å"Jeremy Bentham. † N. p. Web. 14th August 2012. .

Essay on Escape in The Glass Menagerie -- Glass Menagerie essays

Escape in The Glass Menagerie In Tennessee Williams' play, The Glass Menagerie, none of the characters are capable of living in the real world. Laura, Amanda, Tom and Jim use various methods to escape the brutalities of life. Laura retreats into a world of glass animals and old gramophone records. Amanda is obsessed with living in her past. Tom escapes into his world of poetry writing and movies. Jim also reverts to his past and remembers the days when he was a hero. Laura retreats into a world of glass animals and old gramophone records. Even when it appears that Laura is finally overcoming her shyness and hypersensitivity with Jim, she instantly reverts back to playing the Victrola once he tells her he's engaged. She is unable to cope with the truth so she goes back to her fantasy world of records and glass figurines. Laura can only live a brief moment in the real. Amanda is obsessed with her past as she constantly reminds Tom and Laura of that 'one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain' when she received seventeen gentlemen callers (Williams 32). The reader cannot even be sure that this actually happened. However, it is clear that despite its possible falsity, Amanda has come to believe it. She refuses to acknowledge that her daughter is crippled and refers to her handicap as 'a little defect - hardly noticeable' (Williams 45). Only for brief moments does she ever admit that her daughter is 'crippled' and then she resorts back to denial. She doesn't perceive anything realistically. She believes that this gentleman caller, Jim, is going to be the man to rescue Laura and she hasn't even met him yet. She tells Laura when Laura is nervous about the gentleman caller, 'You couldn't be satisfied with just sitting home', whe... ...he major characters in this play are so warped and their lives so distorted and perverted by fantasies that each is left with only broken fragments of what might have been' (Davis 205). Works Cited Thompson, Judith J. Tennessee Williams' Plays: Memory, Myth, and Symbol. New York: Peter Land Publishing, Inc., 1987. Davis, Joseph K. "Landscapes of the Dislocated Mind in Williams' The Glass Menagerie." Tennessee Williams: A Tribute. Ed. Jac Tharpe. Hattiesburg: Heritage Printers, Inc., 1977. 192-206. Scanlan, Tom. "Family and Psyche in The Glass Menagerie." Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Glass Menagerie. Ed. R.B. Parker. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983. 96-108. Williams, Tennessee. "The Glass Menagerie." Concise Anthology of American Literature. Ed. George McMichael. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1985. 2112-2156

Bamboozled: Black People and White Man Essay

In 2000, Spike Lee wrote and directed the film Bamboozled. When discussing his satirical film, Spike Lee claimed, â€Å"I want people to think about the power of images, not just in terms of race, but how imagery is used and what sort of social impact it has – how it influences how we talk, how we think, how we view one another[. . . ]how film and television have historically[. . . ]produced and perpetuated distorted images. † Spike Lee certainly conveyed this message in Bamboozled. Images are powerful and carry massive social impact. They should never be misrepresented. Are all African Americans either lazy or dim-witted or â€Å"happy servants†, always ready and willing to please the White Man? The short answer is, no. However, throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, many people believed this. The ultimate question is, why? As explained in the film Ethnic Notions, this false perception grew and grew, even past the time of slavery, due to images. Derogatory images of African Americans as â€Å"happy servants† or â€Å"savages,† were everywhere; they were published in children’s books and slapped on cans of food to be used as a marketing tool. People bought into this perception of African Americans, as they became acclimatized to it. Today, our society likes to believe that times have changed and there is no longer an issue of race or false perception of African Americans in the media. However, Spike Lee argues, â€Å"A new â€Å"phenomenon† has emerged in film in recent years, in which an African-American character is imbued with special powers, filmmaker Spike Lee told a student audience ? This new image is just a reincarnation of â€Å"the same old† stereotype or caricature of African Americans ? Lee cited four recent films in which there is a â€Å"magical, mystical Negro† character ? in â€Å"The Legend of Bagger Vance,† a black man â€Å"with all these powers,† teaches a young white male ? how to golf like a champion ? â€Å"How is it that black people have these powers but they use them for the benefit of white people? † Spike Lee seems to be under the impression that African Americans are still misrepresented in the media. They have only improved their ability to mask the fact. False image is still there, but it is subtle. His film Bamboozled ripped viewers’ eyes wide open. The film explored and demonstrated two images of African Americans. The first image, is the Black Man who is just like the White Man or the Asian Man or the Middle-Eastern Man; a man who can be rich and successful like Pierre Delacroix in Bamboozled; a man who can be poor and when without money will do almost anything for it like Manray and Womack. However, when Pierre Delacroix pitched television shows about a Black Man living in an upper-middle-class white, suburban neighborhood, his superior, Thomas Dunwitty turned them down, â€Å"they definitely don’t want to see dignified black people [on television]. † However, the network would allow Pierre Delacroix to create a show which blatantly degrades African Americans; a show which goes back to the 1900s, to the time of black face and minstrel shows; a time when black people were considered subhuman. This is where Spike Lee demonstrates the other image of the African American; an image that the media has gently forced down viewer’s throats. Spike Lee, however, did not do so gently. The fictional television show in Bamboozled, â€Å"Mantan’s New Millennium Minstrel Show†, starred African Americans in â€Å"black face† acting like buffoons. It might as well have been an authentic minstrel show in the 1900s. There was dancing and singing. The two main characters hid from the White Man in a chicken coup, saying â€Å"ain’t nobody in here but us chickens! â€Å"4 The creator, Pierre Delacroix’s initial intention with this show was not to degrade his own race. It was to â€Å"break the stereotypes. â€Å"5 He figured the nation would be shocked and outraged! Instead they ate it up. The studio audience dressed in black face. Children trick-or-treated in black face. It was the latest craze of the nation. Black face is an act which digs back to a time of slavery, a time where African Americans were considered inferior. It was now socially acceptable to publicly highlight a moment in history that pained African Americans. People figured it’s on TV, it’s OK! The black man was degraded, as he has always been, but in Bamboozled no mercy was spared. Spike Lee used the film in a variety of ways. He attacked today’s media and the way in which it portrays African Americans. He explored the wide scope of African American’s lives, which is no different than the lives of any other race. He demonstrated the consequences of greed and sacrificing one’s dignity. Furthermore, he exposed society for what it really is: mindless. The majority of a population does not question the media. Instead it swallows images whole, even if those images are as false and misleading as a painted black face.

Personal Factors That Affect An Individual s Cognitions...

Personal factors, such as age, gender, traits, and attitudes can impact an individual’s cognitions and influence the type of crime they commit. In accordance to the Penal Reform Trust Bromley Briefings (2016), out of 3,861 women in prison in England and Wales in June 2016, eighty-five per cent are imprisoned due to a non-violent offence. Compared to women, men are more likely to be in prison because of serious violent offences, particularly violence against the person (Allen Dempsey, 2016). This is a possible indication that women and men have a different thinking process due to different social structures. Gender In the past, female violence was socially recognised and celebrated (King, 2013). Famous examples include Joan of Arc, the Amazon fighters, and Boudicca (King, 2013). However, in the current day children are exposed to media and social norms depicting what is expected of each sex (Hoeksema, 1990). It is expected that girls should be ladylike and behave non-violently, while it is more acceptable for boys to misbehave (Hoeksema, 1990). Lawrence Kohlberg (1966) was one of the first supporters for the cognitive theory on sex-typed behaviours and personality traits (Hoeksema, 1990). Kohlberg argued that children construct a cognitive representation of the world, also known as schemas, which then guides their behaviour (Hoeksema, 1990). All children develop a gender schema of how their sex is supposed to behave (Hoeksema, 1990). Perhaps the reason why women are moreShow MoreRelatedFemale Representation For Female Guilty Parties1701 Words   |  7 Pageslike crime and prostitution; the law frequently treats the prostitution exercises of guys and females in an unexpected way. and it has vacillated for still different classifications, for example, exasperated strike and drug law infringement (see Steffens Meier, 1993, for an audit of patterns and clarifications). 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