Morality

Tiera Suggs R. McCashland Philosophy 101 Final Paper Final Philosophy Paper I will oppose Bertrand Russell’s view that believing in God is trivial and that of humans poor imagination. I will use Tim Holt’s “Philosophy of Religion” to show how believing in God is more logical than not. Russell uses a few arguments to try an disprove the existence of God in “Why I am not a Christian. ” I will address the “First Cause Argument,” the “Design Theory Argument,” and the “Morality Argument. ” I will touch briefly on what Russell believes and then use common and widely accepted theories to refute Russell.

Russell uses many reasons to support his disbelief of God and refutes many known theories explaining God but I will focus on his main points. First of which being, “The First-Cause Argument,” which basically means everything we know has a cause and no matter how far back existence is traced, there is chain events of causes leading back to one cause. Russell rebuked this argument by quoting an autobiography by John Stuart Mills,”My father taught me that the question ‘Who made me? ‘ cannot be answered, since it immediately suggests the further question `Who made god? That sentence for Russell confirms that God mustn’t exist, he also says our poor imagination created the idea of God (Russell Why I am not a Christian). Russell fails to logically disprove Gods existence because he did not adequately cast doubt upon the many other arguments that have a clearer, more philosophical standpoint. The Cosmological Argument simply states: (1) Everything that exists has a cause of its existence.? (2) The universe exists.? Therefore:? (3) The universe has a cause of its existence.? (4) If the universe has a cause of its existence, then that cause is God.? Therefore:? (5) God exists.

It does not seem logical or ideal to use an authors autobiography to try and disprove a widely accepted theory. Any person can take a set of ideas and say, “this is wrong because… ” but one must justify ones point. Russell’s argument carries no weight because it is not adequately philosophical. Even if you try and refute the Cosmological Argument on the grounds of saying, if everything has a cause then shouldn’t God? The Kalam Cosmological Argument takes it a step further by saying there is a difference between God and the universe, the universe has a beginning in time subjecting it to be caused/created.

Since God has no beginning in time, then he is not subject to be caused/created (Holt Philosophy of Religion). The Cosmological Argument used along with the Kalam Cosmological Argument make Russell’s standpoint weaken and seem arbitrary. The next point Russell attacks in “Why I am not a Christian” is the Design Theory, which states: “Everything in the world is made just so that we can manage to live in the world, and if the world was ever so little different, we could not manage to live in it. ” Russell denies that belief by saying, “… since the time of Darwin we understand much better why living creatures are adapted to their environment. It is not that their environment was made to be suitable to them but that they grew to be suitable to it, and that is the basis of adaptation. There is no evidence of design about it. ” What makes his standpoint questionable is the fact that he is trying to simplify the complexity of the nature of humans and leaves it to coincidence.. Yes we adapt to our surroundings but how? By chance? That is too unbelievable, organs as complicated as the heart or lungs function sequentially because of chance?

That notion is not logical. In “Philosophy of Religion”, The Teleological Argument however is, stating that the world was created and exists with a purpose in mind. The universe is a ordered system and nothing is left to chance. The Teleological Argument is more believable than Russell’s ‘just because’ so called reasonings. Russell’s next argument is that of morality. He believes God is not the reason for right and wrong, because if you believe in God, you believe he is all good. So how can something all good create wrong? But one can refute Russell’s statement by simply saying, morality is a set of commands so there ust be a commander (Holt Philosophy of religion). The Formal Moral Argument states: (1) Morality consists of a set of commands.? (2) For every command there is a commander.? Therefore:? (3) There is a commander that commanded morality.? (4) Commands only carry as much authority as does their commander.? (5) Morality carries ultimate authority.? Therefore:? (6) The commander that commanded morality carries ultimate authority.? (7) Only God carries ultimate authority.? Therefore:? (8) The commander that commanded morality is God.? Therefore:? (9) God exists. The Formal Moral Argument seems more plausible than Russell’s theory.

It follows a clear system and answers questions of morality, while Russell just bears the conclusion of God is good so there cannot be bad. Again, Russell’s theories are illogical and incomplete compared to ones he is trying to disprove. Russell fails to clarify his statement, his argument is not convincing and is a premature conclusion about God that he cannot even validate. Russell obviously holds some strong convictions against Christianity and God in general. But his reasoning and conclusions are not philosophical, therefore rendering them illogical and mundane. Russell’s argument is not as valid as he thinks.

One needs reasons in proving or disproving something, not just banters and foolish inquires. Russell is foolish in saying God was created by humans with a poor overactive imagination, he is filled with more imagination to believe the universe and everything in it was just a random coincidence. Russell’s attempts are weak and vague, not enough to disprove complete logical statements.

Works Cited

1. Holt, Tim. “Philosophy of Religion. ” 2008. 23, Nov. 2009. .
2. Russell, Bertrand. “Why I am not a Christian. ” edited by John R. Lenz for the Bertrand Russell Society. 1996. 23, Nov. 2009.

Today the world has many issues, like hopelessness, prejudice, and selfish desires. The definition of the word moral is; concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. In the world today there are few moral standards; we have numerous evil influences and few holy and godly influences. What does it mean to live honorably? It means that you respect yourself and others and live a life worth living. People have selfish desires to please themselves and not others.

The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:33 do not be achieved: “Bad company ruins good morals. ” The company we keep, the influences we are under, and the things we look at all directly affect our morals and ethics. Some of the things that affect us morally are, music movies, books, the Internet, the friends we have, and the relationship (or lack of) that we have with God. The way we treat others and ourselves is a huge part of our lives and the way we live them. We should strive to be like Jesus in all our endeavors. Matthew 5:48, you therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Some of the ways that we could help the world regain moral standards are, leading by example, helping out or volunteering, and evangelism. The example we set should be an important priority for us as Christians; we should be Christ-like at all times. We could also help out the less fortunate, volunteering at charities or donating money; we should do our parts as Chrism’s messengers in the world. The final thing we could do is evangelism, the spreading of Chrism’s word. The world Is a sinful place, and God will come soon and take his people from It. The morals that we have are vital to our character.

You could live honorably by, asking questions, figuring out what leads you astray, and helping fix It. James 1:22-25, but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For If anyone Is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he Is like a man who looks Intently at his natural face In a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks Into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed In his doing. Problem-Solving Essay By Abernathy

The world is a sinful place, and God will come soon and take his people from it. Asking questions, figuring out what leads you astray, and helping fix it. James 1:22-25, but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed.

Resistance of Change Ding Ling’s “A Day”, Lu Xun’s “A Madman’s Diary,” and Yu Dafu’s “Sinking” are all works that have been written in the time of a crucial change in China. Although the stories are fictional, the writers manage to reflect and correlate their characters to the current state of their homeland. Reading the listed works we see that its characters possess many common traits such as suffering, humility, depression, and much love and patriotism for China. The authors use character’s personal difficulties, to illustrate how complex it is for China to abolish its conservative, deep-rooted, traditional ways for new ones.

In “The Diary of a Madman” by Lu Xun, we see a character that is in a state of constant paranoia. He is considered to be a madman by his immediate society that is greatly influenced by old Chinese morals and traditions of imperialism and Confucianism. He believes that his social circle practices cannibalism and sooner or later he will be eaten. On numerous occasions he questions the reasons behind this immoral practice which he believes is real. Although his actual perceptions of his surroundings might be erroneous in reality, we notice a valid metaphoric meaning in his view; cannibalism as suppression of people.

He doesn’t understand why people are not willing to give up their old customs of cannibalism. He claims that some who used to practice cannibalism in the past realized its immorality and stopped, yet most continue to live by old traditions. He argues immorality of old traditions should be exemplifying the west as a By illustrating this inability of social change the character demonstrates the society as one of great tradition. The character’s desire for change illustrates the revolutionary times that China was undergoing at the time.

He wanted the Chinese society to abandon its traditional beliefs which were constraining their liberality. Order, discipline, and oppressive imperial traditions of their background influenced by Confucianism strongly shaped their beliefs and habits, making it difficult to accept new modern principles. The character feels helpless while observing his society’s challenge to change. Although we see the character’s distress, his connection and love towards China is illustrated in his last words of the diary. Declaring to “Save the Children”, the character conveys his patriotic beliefs in times of agony.

We see that regardless of social resistance to change the characters’ hope of a better future for China persists, illustrating the great patriotism that is integrated in Chinese society and culture. In Ding Ling’s story “A Day,” we also see a character whose emotional state correlates to her surrounding society. In the story, a young woman lives in a poor part of a metropolis city, “under the jurisdiction of a few imperialist nations”(12). She despises this split society, which is made of “fat bellied” capitalists and the filthy poor working class that labors for the former.

Observing the miserable working class routinely occupied in their “back-breaking” tasks makes her feel depressed. She pities them and wishes she could help them realize that they deserve a better living. She thinks that if only she could influence those people, to open their eyes to a better future, she would improve their lives. She makes an attempt to improve her maid’s way of thinking, trying to melt her gloom, but soon feels anguished herself. When she considers people’s “ignorant ways of thinking and their purely selfish desires” she hopelessly gives up. The lives of those people are wretched and their minds are numbed, they are stripped of all hope and ideas as they eke out a living from one day to the next”. She sees her society suffering in this “meaningless existence” and not being able to change. This resistance to change irritates her greatly. She realizes that the mentality of these people is degraded by imperialistic domination for many years and is difficult to abandon. Those similar self degrading traits can also be detected in the character.

Her immediate company that visits her daily takes advantage of her humbleness and overwhelms her with their sentiments regarding the ills of China. Her submissiveness restrains her desire to argue her position and take any measures. Depressed, she wants to isolate herself from everybody and sink in her daydream; the only delight of her day. We see a reflecting relationship between society and the character. Society makes her depressed and she is hopeless of change. Dreaming about a better life, she is still not able to take any actions that would help her break through this cycle of misery.

While in the past two stories, we see characters that were disturbed by difficulties of change in their societies, in “Sinking” by Yu Dafu the main character is troubled by his personal complexities. Various emotional problems such as loneliness, hatred, fear, sexual frustration, paranoia, and other self degrading traits lead him to a suicide. A Chinese native and a patriot, he is influenced by Chinese traditional morals and beliefs that suffocate his desire to acquaint to a new environment in Japan, where he attends school as a foreign student.

Discipline and order induced in him by Confucianism of imperialistic China restrain his adaptation in this new liberal setting. We see that his relationship with his new society is hurting because of his long-established morality. He feels that his schoolmates reject him, but his paranoiac attitude and reserved appearance prevent him from making any friends. Failing to make an attempt to connect with the Japanese students, whom he considers his enemies, he loathes them even more. He is resentful that his beloved China is in time of chaos while Japan is thriving and that distances him from his surroundings even more.

He is sexually frustrated and unable to connect with girls. He tries to physically ease his frustration but feels sickened and considers it to be immoral. Having been influenced by Confucian tradition, he constantly tries to discipline and improve himself, yet his attempts are always overwhelmed by new desires and beliefs. Influenced by western literature, he finds peace when he recites poetry written by romantic writers and spends his sole time appreciating nature. This aspiration of western culture and liberal thinking constantly competes with the previous morality of the character.

His personal conditions and experiences represent, and are the effects of, the undergoing struggles of Chinese society during the time of political chaos. After the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, China did not have a real government. The society feels rejected, because other countries are not willing to step in and help establish a new administration. Although people anticipate a new liberal government, soon another Emperor takes office. Moral and traditional philosophy infiltrated by Confucianism made the Chinese culture humble and fearful just like the character’s personality.

While manifesting many strong feelings of hate, sorrow, and frustration, the character is unable to take any measures to change his perceptions. In the end of the story the character commits suicide, stating; “O China, My China, you are the cause of my death! I wish you could become rich and strong soon!… Many, many of your children are still suffering. ” We can see that regardless of all the struggles he went through, the character is a great patriot of his country, and while he does not see any hope for his own healing, his sorrow and death symbolizes his hope for his Country and future generations.

Contradiction We see that the characters in all three stories have various emotional and psychological traits that reflect China in its time of turmoil. We also see that all characters ultimately demonstrated great patriotism towards their country. In order to understand the reasons behind those qualities we have to observe a number of factors from authors’ perspective. Lu Xun, Yu Dafu, and Ding Ling were all authors that were greatly influenced by the revolutionary times in China and their stories illustrate, in part, their own feelings towards their society.

The overthrow of the emperor, in the beginning of twenties century brought a new wind of change. People started to believe that new times are about to form. Western culture and political approach started to inspire people to believe that a better future is around the corner. The characters in our stories help us better to understand the circumstances and the condition of Chinese society in those crucial times. At first we observe Lu Xun’s “A Diary of a Madman” in which we see a man that is perceived as a madman by his society.

Although in the story it might be so, we can identify a certain metaphor that symbolizes the character’s wisdom. While cannibalism was actually practiced in some instances in Imperial China, Lu Xun drew a picture that resembled the old imperialistic China that suppressed its society, “eating” their liberty. Imperialism vanished by the time all three stories have been written, yet society is still unable to change their old mentality. This resistance to change because of old settled-in traditions can also be seen in both “A Day” and “Sinking.

And yet Ding Ling, similar to Lu Xun, in her story portrays mainly the difficulties of social change, Yu Dafu illustrates them on an individual that is also infected with old traditions overpowering his wish for change. Society formulates individuals that in turn makeup the former. The relationship between them is inevitable. It appears that all authors conveyed their personal outlook of their society through their stories. Resistance to change might have been the most difficult obstacle China had to overcome for a better tomorrow, and the offered stories showed us the disturbances of individuals in relation to their society.

People, In one way or another, are continually and Invariably trying to Improve the quality of their lives. Some believe their happiness lies within materialistic goods and the freedom to buy them; while others believe their happiness Lies within the bonds and relationships they have. The American Dream is a combination of both. Stereotypically, the American Dream is to marry the perfect someone, move to a suburban house with a white picketed fence, have kids that attend private school, both parents work and do not have to worry about financial issues.

Although in the ass’s the Idea of the American Dream was exaggerated to match the glamour and luxury of the era also known as the Roaring Twenties. F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby exposes and emphasizes the American Dream as a failure and an Illusion. The failure and illusion of the American Dream is seen through the corruption of morals, purposeless lives of the aristocrats and the out-of-reach dreams fueled by the idea that anything was possible.

Arguably sexual attraction is what could have caused Myrtles immoral behavior and made her vulnerable to Tom’s sexual objectification; however Myrtles affair with Tom Is an attempt to get a glimpse of the American Dream. Her desperateness results In her corruption of morals which leads her to become an object of desire to Tom. The description of their first encounter made it clear the intentions of the soon-to-be relationship. “He had a dress suit on and patent leather shoes… ” (Fitzgerald 40).

In Myrtles recollection of the memory it is significant that she mentions his appearance for it is reflective of his wealth and is season she took interest in Tom. As she continues to retell the story to Nick, Toms actions proves the value he gives to her; ‘When we came Into the station he was next to me and his white shirt front pressed against my arm— and so I told him I’d have to call a policeman but he knew I lied. I was so excited that when I got into a taxi with him I didn’t hardly know I wasn’t getting into a subway train. (40). Tom’s aggressive, domineering come-on shows he feels superior to her. Tom did not even have the decency to introduce himself. To Myrtle it did not matter because she knew she was out of her league chasing Tom and the social circle he revolved In, but hoped desperately and pathetically to Improve her situation. For Myrtle and those who are far from living the American Dream, the luxury and glamour this Illusion presents led her to devalue herself. On the other hand, Tom and Daisy seem to be living the American Dream.

They have all the material possession one could ever need and such great wealth to securely fall back on, but all this and they are unsatisfied with their lives. Tom and Daisy’s lives show that achieving or obtaining the American Dream leads to purposeless lives. During Nick’s first visit at Tom and Daisy’s house, Tom begins discussing his recent readings about the white supremacy. Nick made an observation that “There was something pathetic in his concentration as if his complacency, more acute than old, was not enough for him anymore” (18).

Tom’s satisfaction in life is no longer enough to shield him from his unhappiness, so he becomes absorbed with supposedly ‘scientific’ books about white supremacy, hoping o find the root of his disillusionment. Later that evening Daisy shares with Nick conclusions she has made about life on the basis that she has “… Been everywhere, young age of Daisy she feels she no longer has nothing left to do. With great fortune, social standing and material possession do not have much else to desire or seek in life thus putting into question the greatness and happiness that is associated with the American Dream.

Gatsby experienced this greatness and happiness of the American Dream when he came so close to achieving it. Although he devoted all his time and effort toward his ultimate dream of winning Daisy back, it still proved to be unattainable due to his overblown idealization of her. Jordan Baker explains to Nick about Gatsby mysterious behavior that “… It was no coincidence at all. Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be Just across the bay’ (83). Gatsby entire presence is built so that Daisy will notice him.

Despite the flashy parties and careless wealth that imply he is living in the moment, he is in fact stuck is the past. Nick attempts to reason with Gatsby naive thoughts about reliving the past but Gatsby simply responds “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can! ” (116). At the point it is foreshadowed, that once again, the great American Dream is unrealistic since Gatsby is leading an unrealistic life, based upon a reality that may soon come crashing down around him. Fitzgerald expresses his disillusioned view of the American Dream in the last line of the book where Nick reflects on . Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes fore us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter ? tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one fine morning ” (189) the dream is dead, just like Gatsby. The book ended with Fitzgerald disenchanted view of the American Dream. Regardless, he ends the story with hope. Even though no one really gets what they want in this story and the “American Dream” is seen to be a scam; he knows that people will still pursue their dreams, Just like Gatsby chased after Daisy.

A man must pursue his dreams. This is certainly true for everyone in humankind, for if there were no dreams, there would be no reason to live. Duddy Kravitz understands this perfectly, which is why he is one of the most ambitious young men of his time. From the moment he hears his grandfather say, “A man without land is nobody,”(44) he is prepared to seek the land of his dream, no matter what the cost would be. This ambition of his is very respectable, but unfortunately his methods are damnable.

Duddy is a relentless pursuer, a formidable competitor but also a ruthless manipulator. It is true that he has obtained all the land that he desires at the end, but he succeeds through immoral, despicable and contemptible means. It is clear then, that Duddy has failed in his apprenticeship and has become the “scheming little bastard” that Uncle Benjy has warned him against. There is no doubt that Duddy is very shrewd and clever, but his lack of moral principles attributes to his final failure. In fact, his immorality can be traced back to a very young age.

During his study in the parochial school, he already earns money through methods that hardly comply with virtues of any kind. Taking advantage of the fact that minors cannot be sued in Canada, Duddy defrauds stamp companies and sells stolen hockey sticks. Perhaps he cannot distinguish right from wrong; perhaps he does not care, but nonetheless it is improper for him to engage himself into these kinds of activities. Duddy emerges himself deeper into the sea of corruption when he establishes Dudley Kane Enterprises.

With his limited knowledge of movie making and his mistaken trust in John Friar, his firm produces bar-mitzvah films of extremely poor quality. The bar-mitzvah film for Mr. Cohen, for example, is obviously a failing product. “Duddy didn’t say a word all through the screening but afterwards he was sick to his stomach,”(149). After the screening, Duddy says to Mr. Friar, “I could sell Mr. Cohen a dead horse easier than this pile of —,”(149). However, realizing the obvious faultiness of the film, Duddy does not talk candidly to his client.

Instead, he untruthfully says that the film is a phenomenal piece of art and that he is entering it into the Cannes Festival. By doing so, he deceives the Cohen family into buying the appalling bar-mitzvah film of Bernie. As a matter of fact, Kravitz is not only skilful in handling situations, but he is also very apt in manipulating people. This can be clearly seen in his relationships with Virgil and Yvette. Duddy is never loved in his family, so originally Duddy is quite content to know that there is someone who cares about him, Yvette.

He finds great companionship in her and acquires a feeling of fulfillment in himself in her presence. But as time passes by, Yvette becomes nothing but a tool to him. He uses her as a medium through which he can buy the land that he lusts for; because he is a minor and he cannot legally own land, thus getting the deeds under her name. “The farmers would be wary of a young Jew, they might jack up prices or even refuse to sell, but another French-Canadian would not be suspect,”(99). Duddy also treats her as a sexual toy.

He makes love with Yvette whenever he wants it, but he does not take Yvette’s feelings into consideration: “Yvette wanted to wait, but Duddy insisted, and they made love on the carpet,”(193). He never pays any respect to Yvette and he does “he hasn’t the first notion of how to treat a woman,”(164). Not only does he use her sexually and financially but also mentally. Duddy has no love for Yvette, which is shown in various occasions, one being while having a conversation with his comrade. “Listen,” he said, “what kind ?

You must know lots of nice Jewish girls in Outremont. Why don’t you ever fix me up? ” “What about Yvette? ” Bernie asked, embarrassed. “Yvette? I could never marry her. She’s my Girl Friday,” (232). This shows how he has come to use Yvette as nothing but a tool, fooling her in making her believe that he actually loves her. With Virgil, Duddy takes advantage of his physical disabilities. After selling the pinball machines that Virgil brought him to ease his financial troubles, Duddy does not want to repay Virgil.

Using the fact that Virgil is an epileptic and that it is very difficult for him to be hired, Duddy employs him as a driver But Duddy tells him that a truck would be necessary for the task, and that he can provide Virgil with the perfect vehicle for one thousand dollars, the exact amount that he owes Virgil, even though he is getting free of charge. Virgil is innocent enough not to know what is happening. Knowing this, Duddy doesn’t take into account that if Virgil encounters and accident, he can be sued for everything he has.

He is also very grateful and flattered to know that Mr. Kravitz is willing to hire him. He accepts the job immediately, and thus, Duddy does not need to reimburse Virgil. It is quite ironic that Duddy, being such a good manipulator of people, is later being used by his Bohemian friends when they come to his apartment every night to party, eat and drink, all at Duddy’s expense. After Duddy has engaged himself into all kinds of deceitful activities, he is bankrupt and is on the verge of a mental breakdown.

At that point, Uncle Benjy’s letter reveals to Duddy that he must make a very serious decision: “There’s more to you than mere money-lust, Duddy, but I’m afraid for you. You’re two people, that’s why. The scheming little bastard I saw so easily and the fine, intelligent boy underneath that your grandfather, bless him, saw. But you’re coming of age soon and you’ll have to choose. A boy can be two, three, four potential people, but a man is only one. He murders the others. ” (287) Duddy must now choose the way that he will live on for the rest of his life.

He may continue on to live the way that he has always lived and be a complete amoral criminal, or he can abandon his money-lust and become a fine shrewd gentleman. The time has come for him to choose what is to become of him. But at this point, Duddy performs the most dirty, sickening and contemptible act in his apprenticeship. He forges Virgil’s cheque in order to buy the final parcel of land: “Duddy took a quick look at Virgil’s bank balance, whistled, noted his account number and ripped out two cheques. He forged the signature by holding the cheque and a letter Virgil had signed up to the window and tracing slowly,”(316).

This is a clear indication that Duddy has chosen to become the inconsiderate “scheming little bastard”. He has murdered all the other good possibilities of himself. Duddy has obviously chosen the wrong kind of man to be. He has chosen to become a crooked person, a corrupted chap, and a ruthless man. Undoubtedly, Duddy is a very keen and intuitive young man. He can calmly and gracefully settle Lennie’s problems with Mr. Calder. He can also tactfully and intelligently get Aunt Ida going back to Montreal to see the dying Uncle Benjy.

Duddy has all the qualities that are needed for him to succeed in society; it is only a matter of time. Unfortunately, Duddy chooses the wrong path at a young age and continues on with that path to his adulthood. He ends up being a terrible failure. Perhaps his lack of discipline from his early years is one of the most important attributes to his tragic fall in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. ID: 0014464 Argumentative Essay The Fail in the Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz By: Anchal Joshi For: Ms. Tozzi Date: 11/11/2010

What do ethics/morality in business mean? Difference between success and failure! The most important attribute that distinguishes business long-term success, are the practices of admirable business ethics/morality, which are then interpreted as the integrity of the company.

So in essence, ethics/morality in business is the behavioral aspect that dictates all dealings within their world.In the business world most ownership or management groups, describe this function in three ways, avoiding breaking the law, avoiding actions that will result in law suits and negative publicity that reflects negatively on the image of the company. The reason these are of the utmost concern is that they involve the loss of profits and reputation. Unfortunately, the moral and ethical way companies do business varies drastically; it is inherent to their perception of what is ethically right or is ethically wrong.In a research study by IBE (The Institute of Business Ethics), the findings where clear that companies displaying a clear commitment to moral conduct distinguished and dominated the companies displaying a demeanor of poor ethical conduct. The study has demonstrated that it was profitable to be ethical, by inspection of the financial returns of the companies that participated in the research study. Being trustworthy, meeting obligations, maintaining accounting controls and being respectful did equate into long-term success with economic and profitable growth.

Instilling this inherent unambiguous style of doing business will be extremely evident to all you do business with, including your competition. Bribery is a form of corruption, that implies the giving of money or gift that alters the behavior of the recipient (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law), it is difficult to define what a bribe is in business; if you bring a client to dinner for a business meeting, for example, trying to secure a signature on a contract to build their house, is that a bribe or an unethical business practice?Let’s say under the same circumstances you are trying to secure goods from a supplier at a reduced unit price, is this a bribe or unethical business practice or is it exceptional marketing tactics? Let’s look at the scenario put before us within our assignment, is it ethical for executives to accept bribes as an inducement to buy a companies products; we would have to determine what the alleged bribes where, was it a dinner or maybe a night out on the town with the tab being picked up by the company trying to sell their goods to the executives company, was it a onetary amount and how was the incident facilitated. Another scenario, you give a campaign donation to a political candidate, for their consideration and vote if elected for a Bill that you support, is that a bribe, it happens all the time in the political arena of our government, with the parties not being indicted or accused of any crimes. There are many factors to take into consideration when deliberating this topic that we do not have the answers to nor are they at our disposal within our assignment.On the other hand, if there are clear specifics within the company’s bylaws or contractual agreements with their employees that describe how the company defines bribes and actions to be taken, this would define their morality and legal stand and the appropriateness in the firing of the executives. Ethics and social responsibility are important in any business because reputation is everything, and these ethical attributes start at the top, then are instilled and enforced by company policy to all in the organization.Unethical procedures within a company will eventually cause mistrust, but that’s not all, remember people talk and words of the mouth are a powerful vehicle in undermining or even destroying any company.

We all have witnessed the downfall of businesses, remember ‘Enron’ an energy company based in Houston, Texas, where share holders lost $11 billion dollars and over 4000 employees lost their jobs, due to use of accounting loopholes, poor financial reporting and special-purpose entities that would potentially isolate the firm from financial risk that where all facilitated by corporate greed and unethical practices! Wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia, Nov. 2001) It is important to keep in mind that business failure is a direct reflection of a lack of business ethics, and the true understanding of right and wrong and implementation of the correct morals and ethics create long-term business and economic success. Customer relationship is omnipotent in achieving long-term business success; it is essential that the business is founded on principals that are based on sound ethical practice. This will create an atmosphere of trust insuring existing customer return and enhancing the migration of new relationships and customers to your firm.Success attained without a foundation of strong ethics will ultimately be short-lived, however there are some exceptions to this but they must be considered as highly unlikely.