Moral Rule for a Thief
Instructions
Topics for your Essay, Choose one
Topic A: You try to live strictly by the moral rules contained in your religion's moral code. The two most important rules are "Be merciful" (don't give people what they deserve) and "Be just" (give people exactly what they deserve). Now suppose a man is arrested for stealing food from your house, and the police leave it up to you whether he should be prosecuted for his crime or set free. Should you be merciful and set him free, or be just and make sure he is appropriately punished? How do you resolve this conflict of rules? Can your moral code resolve it? To what moral principles or theories do you appeal?
Topic B: Why do you think people are tempted to use the straw man fallacy in disagreements on moral issues? How do you feel when someone uses this fallacy against you? To demonstrate your understanding and to teach the idea to the rest of the class, provide a relevant real-life example of the logical mistake. (You MAY use an outside source to help you present your example; be sure to summarize or paraphrase, cite, and use announcing verbs.) Choose carefully—consider whether your example does a good job of illustrating a Straw Man. Compare it to similar fallacies, and show why your example is a Straw Man rather than another fallacy like an Appeal to the Person. Your discussion of your example should be detailed so that readers can evaluate the fallacy. Argue the case for why your example is an example of Straw Man.
Moral Rule
Name
Institution
Course
Professor
Date
Topic A: Moral Rule
Various forces inspire people to become thieves or act against moral expectations. Being a thief does not always imply one has immoral behaviors. In other instances, their morality is impaired by their circumstances. Dealing with a thief, an individual is either guided by the rule of being merciful or being just. In either case, an individual's reactions after they engage in a wrongful act determine the government be application in response to their immorality.
A thief can decide to be remorseful after committing the crime. The act of being sorry implies that their circumstance pushed the individual, and they need compassion. A merciful approach to the case can help get the best out of the situation. The case of stealing food can be influenced by the fact that the individual lacks food. The best way to handle the case would be to resonate with the person and help them have the food. It could be a person trying to find a way to make ends meet or a have their family something to eat. The main objective in the case would be driven by the desire to identify the "good of the thief." The individual is aware that he had committed a crime by stealing the food. He is knowledgeable that he has offended the owner and willing to apologize for the incident. T...