A Common Humanity Essay on “goodness Beyond Virtue”

A Common Humanity Essay on “Goodness Beyond Virtue”

        In the “Goodness Beyond Virtue” chapter it explores concepts of good and evil. One of the most obvious strengths of this chapter is the nun’s unconditional love for the patients at the hospital. She shows great attitude as if there is nothing wrong with them. Some say that she does it because of religion. The nun feels that it is her calling to be there. She is determined to make a change and that is what drives her. She treats the patients as if there her children. The nun sees the patients as infinitely precious. Despite there status, race, class, or nationality she stills sees them as precious human beings. She was there to reveal the full humanity of those whose affliction had made their humanity invisible as if they were not real. She gave them respect and treated everyone as if the were equal and showed unconditional love.

        A great weakness in “Goodness Beyond Virtue” would be that they didn’t have a chance in flourishing. That there mind was gone and it would be a waste to spend time trying to improve there conditions. Many of the doctors went to the hospital as if it was just a job to them. Many people that worked there could careless as if the patients died. They thought that they were just doing there job. Some say that it would have been better as if they were not born. But they were still unique and that should be a reason to treat them infinitely precious.  Another weakness is that the nun could be doing it because of the biblical command “Always act so that you respect every human being , yourself and another, as rational creature”. Another weakness would be that we are told to love our neighbors as we love everyone.

        Some possible objections could be whether or not what the nun did was right or wrong. Was the nun doing the things she did because of her religion? Were the doctors and nurses doing wrong by feeling the way they did towards the patients? The nun could have been acting in justice for her god to feel that she was doing morally right. Her behavior was directly shaped by the reality which it revealed. The nun’s revelatory quality of her loving demeanor towards the patients depended upon her belief in metaphysical fact about them. Her behavior could have to do with something about how her patients were God’s children. So were the doctors and nurses choices in the way they treated the patients unethical?

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