Moral testimony Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Moral testimony - Article Example "Moral experts have no need to seek out others' moral expertise, but moral non-experts lack sufficient knowledge to determine whether the advice provided by a putative moral expert in response to complex moral situations is correct and hence whether an individual is a bone fide expert."1 The acceptance of moral testimony has been challenged on the basis that it does not make knowledge available to the recipient and therefore the use of such a knowledge is illegitimate.Before the reasons for this objection are discussed it is worth noting that little academic attention has actually been paid to the idea of whether or not testimony can be a legitimate source of moral beliefs.2 "we should be open to being persuaded by others, responsive to moral argument; but we should not take their word on moral issues, not allow ourselves to be influenced by the fact that they hold a certain view''.if, on the other hand, reliance on moral testimony is legitimate, there will still be questions about the conditions under which it is so". 3 This means that even though it is hard for us as humans to reject or accept moral judgements and considerations subconsciously , we cannot let these considerations to become a part of our analyses in real life. For example my idea that a certain person is "racist" or a "liar" is based on my own perceptions and experiences. When dealing with this person my prejudices will inevitably suffice (even though in a very subtle manner).However any action by a third party based on my views or "moral testimony" should not be relied upon. Even if my moral testimony does form the basis of another party's reaction or action and it is subsequently accepted Hopkins(2007) believes that there should be a more "solid" reason for doing so rather than my own value judgements. It has been further suggested that "moral discourse, for some reason or other, cannot meet the conditions necessary for learning from the word of others. Since the epistemology is wrong, there is no knowledge to be had from testimonial transactions on moral matters."(Hopkins 2007). It is for this reason that it is believed that it would be rather "illegitimate" to let other's claims guide one's moral belief. For example as an employer of a person I might be faced with the moral testimony of the hiring committee that this person has "moral shortcomings" but I cannot base my judgement on these moral shortcomings. Firstly because morality is largely a matter of perception and the evidence offered in this regard will also be based on "feelings" or the personal experiences of the moral expert, and not actual evidence of their shortcoming like theft or irresponsibility on the job. Of course the contrary view in this regards is that in the right circumstances, moral dialogue may meet and fulfil all the criteria of testimonies in general (Hopkins 2007). The problem however remains that moral testimony lies in a standard that only relates to morals and since knowledge is right, testimony does make moral knowledge available. (Hopkins 2007) For a more profound analysis of this issue it is necessary to delve deeper into what the words "moral" and "testimony" entail in

The person worthy of being considered a leader Research Paper

The person worthy of being considered a leader - Research Paper Example The three personality traits of Che Guevara that will be discussed in this paper are selflessness, decisiveness and courage. The life history of the great leader will be searched and facts about his life that represent these traits will be reviewed for providing evidence that he possessed these three traits throughout his life. A noticeable characteristic of Che Guevara is that of selflessness. He possessed such acquaintance with his chosen life of working for the people that he sacrificed his personal privileges of leading a sophisticated lifestyle. He found out accidentally that according to the food rationing government scheme introduced in the year 1961, he was being provided with higher rations than other general people. On knowing this fact, he immediately cut off his extra rations that he was provided. Evidence of his selfless nature has even been found when it was observed that during certain periods of time he even refused to take the travelling allowances provided by the go vernment for use in purposes related to official activities. In this regard, he refused to take the allocated petrol from the government for official purposes in taking his wife to the hospital. At a certain point of time in his life, when the government allotted airfare to his family to visit him in Cuba, he asked his family members to not accept the same from the government and asked them to bear their respective airfares to travel from Argentina to Cuba to visit him. His selfless nature led him to become more committed to the processes of revolution. His nature of being committed and the lifestyle that he led all throughout his existence in the world has helped enormously in earning the special place within the minds and hearts of the people belonging to the Latin American and the Cuban region (Saunois, â€Å"Che Guevara - Symbol of Struggle†). Guevara was a person who also possessed strong decisiveness. He was so clear about his goals that he never allowed his professiona l possessions collide with his desires and aspirations in life. When he faced the cycle of dilemma related to either choosing medicine or guns as his career, he noted the following verse which clearly evaluates his nature of being decisive. He stated that he was in an ambiguous state in his life when he had to decide whether he should dedicate his life working with medicine or should perform comprehensively his duties as a revolutionary leader. At that point, he decided his career through a straightforward thought that he had to choose one from a bag which was filled with medicine and an ammunition box. The bag and the box together were quite heavy to be carried by him and thus he decided to carry the ammunition box and left the medicine bag. With decisiveness, gradually he became the chief lieutenant of Fidel Castro and differentiated himself from others as a practical and brutal diplomat who could effectively lead his collaborators and traitors. Also at the same time, he deemed hi mself to be holding deep concern for the wellbeing of his groups. His decisive nature took him to the heights of popularity not only in Cuba but also in Latin America. With the passage of years in his life, he grew more and more focused towards his ambition in life. Along with popularity and love among the people of Cuba and Latin America, success in line with the fulfillment of his ambition also arrived throughout his various phases of life