Euthanasia, Demagoguery and Propaganda, and the Culture of Violence and Cultural Violence
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1. In our discussion on Religion, Ethics and its role in the democratic public sphere, we discussed a number of public issues that are affected by our religious views. One such issue is Euthanasia, the termination of a very sick person's life, to end their suffering. Euthanasia raises a number of agonizing moral dilemmas. Using your knowledge of ethics from this course, please answer the questions below giving specific reasons for your answers.
Is it ever right to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is undergoing severe pain and suffering? Under what circumstances can euthanasia be justifiable, if at all?
Most religions suggest that taking a life under any circumstances is unacceptable.
In our reading by Rorty, he has argued that harm is done when people use religion to excuse cruelty. Is euthanasia a case of using religion to excuse the cruelty involved in keeping a suffering person, alive? Whatever your answer, please explain it.
Rorty suggests that as citizens of a democracy, we should try to put off invoking conversation-stoppers as long as possible. Give an example where a statement about Euthanasia that is a conversation-stopper can be changed into one that keeps the conversation going.
2. We have seen through our readings that demagoguery and propaganda can be dangerous to democracies. Arguments based on demagoguery use many strategies. Use an example of your own and explain the following concepts.
Identity as argument
Projection and Scapegoating
Moral equivalence and cunning projection
Rhetoric of victimization
3. In our lesson on violence, we have come across the argument that violence is a form of communication. In the US, according to The Educator’s School Safety Network, there were at least 3,380 threats against K-12 schools recorded in the 2017-18 school year, a 62 percent increase from threats in the 2016-17 school year.
Analyze this increase in threats and acts of violence using two different perspectives- Culture of Violence and Cultural Violence.
Bar Tal has argued that violence shifts the stakes in terms of emotional involvement, it fuels the desire for revenge, and it leads to a cultural preservation of this memory of victimization. Explain how this affects what we can demand in terms of ethically responsible behavior - from the perspective of victims and the perspective of perpetrators. What should they do to break the cycle of violence?
4. On August 11, 2018, a rally was held in Washington DC to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville VA. However, the marchers there were greatly outnumbered by counter-protesters, police officers and representatives of the news media. In an interview Jason Kessler, the organizer of the event in Washington, said that fear and an “atmosphere of intimidation” were the primary reasons for the sparse turnout. He said that participants in a chat group on Discord, a digital communications app favored by the far right, were harassed in the run-up to the rally after their personal information, including phone numbers, addresses and license plates, was released online.
Was this rally in Washington DC an ethical protest? Evaluate from the perspective of all the stakeholders at the rally.
Using the RRICC model of ethics, evaluate whether the harassment on Discord was ethical? Was it a justified mode of protest? Why or why not, explain with reasons.
5. We have read about apology and forgiving. In November 2017, comedian Louis C.K. issued a statement in response to sexual misconduct allegations. Below is his statement in full.
"I want to address the stories told to the New York Times by five women named Abby, Rebecca, Dana, Julia who felt able to name themselves and one who did not.
These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn't a question. It's a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.
I have been remorseful of my actions. And I've tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I'm aware of the extent of the impact of my actions. I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position.
I also took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community, which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didn't want to hear it. I didn't think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it.
There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for. And I have to reconcile it with who I am. Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with.
I wish I had reacted to their admiration of me by being a good example to them as a man and given them some guidance as a comedian, including because I admired their work.
The hardest regret to live with is what you've done to hurt someone else. And I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them. I'd be remiss to exclude the hurt that I've brought on people who I work with and have worked with who's [sic] professional and personal lives have been impacted by all of this, including projects currently in production: the cast and crew of 'Better Things,' 'Baskets,' 'The Cops,' 'One Mississippi,' and 'I Love You Daddy.' I deeply regret that this has brought negative attention to my manager Dave Becky who only tried to mediate a situation that I caused. I've brought anguish and hardship to the people at FX who have given me so much The Orchard who took a chance on my movie and every other entity that has bet on me through the years.
I've brought pain to my family, my friends, my children and their mother. I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen. Thank you for reading."
Evaluate whether this is an effective apology using David Boyd’s seven distinct steps to an effective apology.
Explain what was done in an artful way and what was done in a non-artful way within this apology.
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Final Paper
1. In our discussion on Religion, Ethics and its role in the democratic public sphere, we discussed a number of public issues that are affected by our religious views. One such issue is Euthanasia, the termination of a very sick person's life, to end their suffering. Euthanasia raises a number of agonizing moral dilemmas. Using your knowledge of ethics from this course, please answer the questions below giving specific reasons for your answers.
Is it ever right to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is undergoing severe pain and suffering? Under what circumstances can euthanasia be justifiable, if at all?
Most religions suggest that taking a life under any circumstances is unacceptable.
In our reading by Rorty, he has argued that harm is done when people use religion to excuse cruelty. Is euthanasia a case of using religion to excuse the cruelty involved in keeping a suffering person, alive? Whatever your answer, please explain it.
Rorty suggests that as citizens of a democracy, we should try to put off invoking conversation-stoppers as long as possible. Give an example where a statement about Euthanasia that is a conversation-stopper can be changed into one that keeps the conversation going.
Over the years, euthanasia has been one of the most common topics since it has attracted huge support and opposition. Different groups have been giving the reasoning behind the side they are picking. Similarly, I believe that in some instances, it is right to terminate the life of a terminally ill patient. For example, I believe that patients in a chronic state should have a right to choose to die rather than continue to suffer from a health condition they will never recover. The main reason for supporting euthanasia among these patients is it gives the people the right to die with dignity rather than continuing to suffer. Practicing euthanasia will therefore help protect the patient's right to autonomy when they choose how they want to die while respecting their dignity.
Most religions have been opposing euthanasia since they have applied the divine command approach in their argument. This argument highlights that morality is entirely based on God, and everyone has a moral obligation to obey God's commands. Therefore, they oppose euthanasia since God has commanded people not to take other individual’s life. They also support this reasoning by highlighting that since God is the one who gave the individual's life, He is the only one who can take it away. Similarly, most religions oppose euthanasia, highlighting that life is sacred. They are therefore highlighting that practicing euthanasia will be a way of disrespecting the sanctity of life.
However, similar to Rorty, I believe that applying religion for euthanasia is a way of using religion to practice cruelty to make the individual suffer. For example, it could be cruel to allow the person not to allow a person who is terminally ill and does not have a chance to recover from dying. Denying this person a chance to die will make the person continue experiencing huge suffering for a long period where the individual cannot see the value of life. Furthermore, denying the terminally ill person the chance of euthanasia will deny the person the right to autonomy. Since I believe every person has a right to make individual decisions, denying the person the right to euthanasia would be cruel since other individuals who are not suffering will decide for the suffering patient.
Since we live in a democratic world, individuals should employ measures to promote freedom as much as possible. One way this can be attained is by putting off conversation stoppers as much as possible and transforming them to keep the conversation going. One example of a conversation-stopper statement regarding euthanasia is, “Everyone who is not giving room for euthanasia is cruel.” However, this statement can be transformed to keep the conversation going by changing it to a question. For example, the person can ask, "What is the reasoning behind individuals opposing euthanasia?" This question will therefore act as a conversational deepener rather than a stopper.
2. We have seen through our readings that demagoguery and propaganda can be dangerous to democracies. Arguments based on demagoguery use many strategies. Use an example of your own and explain the following concepts.
Identity as argument
Projection and Scapegoating
Moral equivalence and cunning projection
Rhetoric of victimization
In most instances, democracy is considered one of the best forms of government since it offers individuals the authority to deliberate and decide their legislation. However, some practices are dangerous to democracy. Even though many activities are dangerous to democracy, the common ones are demagoguery and propaganda. Demagoguery is a political practice or activity where political leaders seek support by appealing to ordinary people's desires and prejudices rather than employing a rational government. On the other hand, propaganda refers to information with selective facts or misleading or biased information to attain selfish motives. The demagoguery and propaganda will negatively affect democracy by influencing citizens’ decisions. Adolf Hitler was one of the common politicians who used this approach to ascend and retain power.
One of the common measures that Hitler employed was the identity argument. For example, there are scenarios where Nazis categorized different citizens who have a close connection to the ascription, a move that oppressed some of the social groups. For example, since Hitler was obsessed with 'racial purity,' he was spreading the narrative that German was superior to all other races (Miller, 2020). This approach helped him to attract huge support from the ‘pure Germans’ who were the majority in Germany. There were other instances where Hitler and his Nazi Party employed projection and scapegoat by using some community as a scapegoat for the problems that Germany was experiencing. For instance, there were several scenarios where the Nazi government blamed the Jews for the problems Germany was experiencing despite not having the evidence to support these claims. This blaming made most Germans view these Jews as the problems causing their killing easily.
Furthermore, there were various instances where Hitler used Moral equivalence and cunning projection to win the support of the Germans. For example, Hitler portrayed himself as the world's savior since he had an outstanding Nature. He, therefore, used this moral equivalence towards the Germans who supported him since they believed his practices aimed to make the world a better place, despite his activities destroying it. Furthermore, Hitler used cunning projection to blame the Jews for the problems that Germany was experiencing to eliminate the blame that he could have suffered from the general public. Furthermore, Hitler used the politics of victimization to rule. For instance, there were various instances where he applied human rights violations to maintain his power. For example, the mass killing of Jews and attacks on other countries were mainly ways he employed to suppress oppression to remain in power, negatively affecting democracy.
3. In our lesson on violence, we have come across the argument that violence is a form of communication. In the US, according to The Educator’s School Safety Network, there were at least 3,380 threats against K-12 schools recorded in the 2017-18 school year, a 62 percent increase from threats in the 2016-17 school year.
Analyze this increase in threats and acts of violence using two different perspectives- Culture of Violence and Cultural Violence.
Bar Tal has argued that violence shifts the stakes in terms of emotional involvement, it fuels the desire for revenge, and it leads to a cultural preservation of this memory of victimization. Explain how this affects what we can demand in terms of ethically responsible behavior - from the perspective of victi...