Tuesday, November 14, 2006
English and Parents
To me there are two central questions regarding family morality that need to asked in regards to a parent-child relationship after reading the English text. First, what if the parents do not love the children? Second, what if the children do not love the parents? In both cases let us assume that the other party did in fact greatly love the non-returning scrooges.
The question seems unanswered if one party is just simply ungrateful bastards. This is because she only states that love is owed when there is a mutual friendship. To me, if the selfish party was always loved and respected, and they do not despise their own life (by my standard this is equal to asking for life) then the loved party most certainly owes something to the lovers. You may ask why so?
Well why not?
It is hard work to keep up hate, especially for no apparent reason. The truth is by being love-scrooges the ungrateful party is in fact committing an immoral act, depriving someone close something they could easily extend. This would most certainly create less good in the world
I do believe different acts have different moral values. Risking your life to save a man from a burning building that once tried to kill you is more altruistic than taking your sister to school in the morning. Therefore, even the act of just giving birth to a human being produces some positive moral value (as long as the child does not grow to despise his or her own life). However how much exactly you owe your birth mother is dependent upon your own circumstances, faculties, and if other possibly negative moral acts by the mother outweigh any good that could be used as a pretense. I know this isn’t necessarily applicable all across the board, but I think basic human reasoning may be the most effective tool for family morality. It may not be cut and dry, but it is certainly simple. Overall it seemed English seemed to focus on that children do not owe bad parents anything, nor if they no longer have a friendship (the vast array of reasons for this was left out). Meanwhile, loving parents may receive nothing if the children are just simply ungrateful. This doesn’t make sense to me.
(Posted for Lennon Pukowsky)
