Topic 3: Critical Thinking
This week's blog is all about critical thinking. Critical thinking involves determining the meaning and significance of what is observed or expressed. As we all know, critical thinking can be used in our everyday lives. It allows us to think 'outside the box' to try to discover answers to our many everyday activities. We even use critical thinking skills for something as simple as buying a box of cereal. We evaluate and decide among the multicolored boxes, by asking ourselves which one taste better, which one do I want more, even the price of the cereal comes into play. Choosing the one box among the numerous shelves of boxes is called deductive reasoning, which is associated with critical thinking. Other examples include: choosing what road to take to work, buying a car, when to go to sleep, or even deciding where to take your next vacation. Many factors come into play when making our final decisions, but we primarily base it upon their effectiveness in our overall being. Critical thinking allows you to seek information, analyze alternatives, evaluate the alternatives in relation to your requirements which ultimately allows us to reach some conclusion. With that being said, I am going to link you to a fun exercise. It is truly fun in fact, I did it last night and I found it informative and fascinating. Also, I'll add a couple questions in need of your responses in this week's blog. Be sure to post your response by adding a "comment" to this week's blog which the link can be found down below.
Click the link below which will take you to an interactive exercise called Virtual Philosopher developed by Dr. Wade Maki from the Philosophy department at the University of North Caroline at Greensboro.
Virtual Philosopher Link (must have updated FLASH to play correctly): http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/courses/vicecrime/vp/vp.html
Questions for this week's blog:
1. How does your critical thinking relate to being interdisciplinary?
2a. Comment on your critical thinking reasoning that led to your decisions for all three scenarios: the friend's problem, the lifeboat problem, the liver problem.
b. Explain where your critical thinking gave way to your values, ethics, and beliefs? Comment on the differences you perceive between "ethical" and "critical" reasoning and what kinds of problems it caused in doing or reflecting on this exercise and even in your academic experiences.
c. Comment on how the Virtual Philosopher scored your response. From the comments you received about your responses, what insight have you gained about your own critical thinking and reasoning?
3. How does the outline of your critical thinking disposition match with the application of it in doing the Virtual Philosopher?
Also, there is a discussion question in the Virtual Philosopher link to discuss your decisions and why you thought it practical to pick your answers. Let's further discuss this, why did you pick your answers? Make sure to include all the scenarios, such as The Friends Dilemma, The Life Boat and the Liver Case in your short answer response.
**As always, do not forget to sign your name on your posting to ensure you of your much deserved credit. In addition, be sure to post on time so that we can include you in a final blog response, plus it's good to post on time to make certain no late penalties will be given.
Heather L.
Group 16.
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1. How does your critical thinking relate to being interdisciplinary?
ReplyDeleteCritical Thinking relates to interdisciplinary because it requires you to use different aspects of your life in order to make a valid decision/argument. By having an integration of different disciplines, you are more likely to look at a situation from more than just one standpoint, thereby giving you a greater ability to critically think.
Callie Gaines
2a. Comment on your critical thinking reasoning that led to your decisions for all three scenarios: the friend's problem, the lifeboat problem, the liver problem.
ReplyDeleteTHE FRIEND PROBLEM: In this scenario, my immediate thinking was due to the fact that this was a “good friend” that was having a really bad day. Instead of making this friend’s day worse by agreeing with the person who put them down, why not help their self esteem and make their day a little better?
THE LIFEBOAT PROBLEM: Knowing that I would not have the heart to push one innocent man out of a boat, I chose to hope for a miracle with the 11 people. Yes, there was no lifeboat in sight, but who am I to decide who lives or dies?
THE LIVER PROBLEM: I did process of elimination to determine who needed the liver more than others. Though I already made the point “Who am I to decide who lives or dies?”, in this problem looking at all the candidates helped give me my answer. I felt like Chris, the 8 year old, still had so much life to live, and therefore needed the transplant the most. He was quickly followed by Sarah due to her children, then Karen due to her work for health care, then Joe because of his donation, then Bob. Bob was an alcoholic, which is probably why he needed the liver transplant in the first place, so why would he be able to get it over someone who had no control over their condition?
b. Explain where your critical thinking gave way to your values, ethics, and beliefs? Comment on the differences you perceive between "ethical" and "critical" reasoning and what kinds of problems it caused in doing or reflecting on this exercise and even in your academic experiences.
I feel as though I gave the most ethical answers to the scenarios provided. I looked at each situation as though it were real life, and I thought about what I would honestly do in that situation. I seemed to run into a lot of ethical debates in the liver problem though, especially when it came to Chris vs. Sarah.
c. Comment on how the Virtual Philosopher scored your response. From the comments you received about your responses, what insight have you gained about your own critical thinking and reasoning?
The Virtual Philosopher scored me as Consistent in all of the scenarios, which I completely agree with. Though each situation was different, I still felt as though ethics was needed in each one. The insight I gained from this exercise is that I use my values I’ve gained throughout my life to critically evaluate different scenarios.
Callie Gaines
3. How does the outline of your critical thinking disposition match with the application of it in doing the Virtual Philosopher?
ReplyDeleteI have always felt that I use ethics in order to make important decisions, and in doing the Virtual Philosopher, I felt that this was illustrated. The virtual philosopher did give me some ethical backlash when it came to the liver problem, but I still feel as though I made the right choices.
Callie Gaines
My ability to use critical thinking and communicate the interdisciplinarity of my areas of study is a key outcome of my formal education. As a student, a professional, and a mature adult I believe I am expected to be able to think critically both within and across the disciplines of my Interdisciplinary Studies degree program. Of course, this is not an unproblematic or simple task. Relating my critical thinking skills across several formal education areas of study gives me an opportunity to integrate my knowledge from within these disciplines and show that I am an overall effective individual.
ReplyDeleteLinda Diggs
The scenario regarding the friend being dumped by her boyfriend for someone “normal” had two very good choices. Tell her the cold hard truth or tell her a little white lie. My response was inconsistent with my stated ethics. In as much as I don’t openly agree to lying, I do believe that it is, at times, difficult to tell the truth. In this case, my friend was already a basket case; breaking down and in tears. Given the chance, I would go back to her later after she had calmed and talked to her more truthfully.
ReplyDeleteThe lifeboat situation gave me the choice of keeping everyone in the boat or pushing out a 400 pound person. Using my critical thinking skills, I thought it would be impossible to push the man out of the boat without causing the boat to tip or fill with water. Therefore, I decided to keep him in the boat and pray for a miracle.
The scenario with the dilemma of choosing the best liver transplant recipient was more difficult due to the many choices given. My choice in this situation was consistent with my stated ethics. My first instinct was to give the child and females top priority. My heart went out to the young boy and I put him as the clear choice for the liver transplant.
Linda Diggs
In all of the situations, it was not easy to keep my values and ethics from getting in the way of my critical thinking. Personal opinions and past experiences will always come to play in these types of situations. I think that’s how human nature works. For some individuals, it’s easy to stick to their values and beliefs. For me, I tend to take things on case by case basis. Every situation warrants a separate critical thinking process.
ReplyDeleteThe perception of ethical differences and critical thinking differences can be very real. The ethical difference is more of a legal, politically correct viewpoint. I feel people will say what is ethical and politically correct but they don’t always follow through. Critical thinking is more time consuming and requires a deeper sense of knowledge of the thought processes required to arrive at a solution.
The Virtual Philosopher scored as I expected. I have done several of these exercises over the years and I knew what to expect. Doing an exercise and dealing with the real life issue are worlds apart. Whether my responses were consistent or inconsistent, I shouldn’t allow this criticism to effect my rational for my decisions.
Linda Diggs
The outline of my critical thinking disposition was somewhat of a match with my application of my critical thinking outcomes in the Virtual Professor. I didn’t expect them to join up completely. As I said previously, each situation will have personal, moral and ethical tracks to follow and critical thinking will be a part of following the tracks.
ReplyDeleteLinda Diggs
Because I tend to over-analyze everything, my critical thinking is not exempt from this. Analysis, paired with trying to “think outside the box” and put on the glasses of other’s perspectives is necessary for interdisciplinary study in order to reach the crucial integration of disciplines.
ReplyDeleteHope Diehl
For the friend’s break-up, I decided to go the rather blunt route, not the most enviable trait I possess, and tell her that she’s odd, but who cares, there’s plenty other guys/gals (since the question evaded gender) out there. While I don’t think the white lie here would be a bad thing, it’s just not the one I think I would’ve responded with in the situation. The wording and the nature of this question definitely affected my response. Because I don’t believe being apart from the ‘norm’ is a negative thing, I’d have no problem telling the friend that they’re weird (and that’s why I’m friends with them) and don’t belong with the stiff.
ReplyDeleteThe lifeboat question could’ve been more difficult if there were more options. I don’t think many people are going to push the big guy off the boat, not in context anyway, but in crisis- who knows. If asking if anyone wanted to take one for the team were an option, I would’ve picked that one. Regardless, as my name implies, I tend to hope (in this case, for a miracle) even when it’s illogical to do so.
There’s a reason I don’t want to be a doctor. Actually, there’s hundreds. Contradicting my initial statement that all lives are equally worth saving, when given the descriptions of the candidates, I chose to play God. My process of elimination completely mirrored Callie’s. Bob went first because I assumed (that’s an admission) he valued his life less in respect of his alcoholism and homelessness. After that, I eliminated by the oldest, leaving those with the most life left to live the option of survival. I didn’t favor gender but definitely gave more weight to the child candidate and candidate whose children would be affected by her loss. Chris, the youngest on the list, was the last one standing.
My ethics were obviously conveyed throughout my critical thinking involved in these scenarios. Ethics vary by person and in critical thinking it’s important to include other people’s ethics to gain insight on how your own may be effecting the decisions you’re making. When asked the white lie question I immediate thought of Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, and how I’ve convinced my niece that I’m a tummy interpreter and therefore know that she did not eat enough broccoli yet. You can see why I said that some lies are justifiable, which went against my reaction to my heartbroken friend.
Hope Diehl
Receiving 2/3 “inconsistent” ratings, I’m left to think that my beliefs may be suspect to vulnerability, which does not surprise me. I happen to be a very opinionated person that’s recently taken a few steps towards a more neutral place allowing many new beliefs to form and breed. The Liver scenario still has me thinking. As much as I want to say that first come, first serve is the “right” way, I’ve got these fixed images of a hairy alcoholic on one end, and a small, freckled boy on the other. Fortunately, I know that I’ll never have to make this decision, and my hat’s off to those who do.
ReplyDeleteHope Diehl
1. Being interdisciplinary is, in essence, simply being a critical thinker. When I approach a problem that calls for interdisciplinary thinking, I begin with a critical examination of the context the problem is situated within (i.e., disciplines, etc.). After examining this context, I can then deduce an appropriate path to a solution.
ReplyDelete2a. I chose "A," saying that I would not lie to my friend. I chose this, first, because I think being normal is overrated; and second, because I do not think lying is permissible in this sort of situation. I am essentially a realist, things simply *are* and clouding matters of fact really does not help anyone in the long run. There is, however, certainly a distinction between being honest and being rude.
I was rated inconsistent because I said in an earlier question that some lies are permissible. The virtual philosopher implied that by "some lies" I meant harmless white lies; that is, however, not the case.
I will not go into the matter at length here, but a problem arises when you have two conflicting values or ethical laws, such as the rule "lying is always wrong" and "aiding in the murder of innocent people is wrong." This problem arose out of Immanuel Kant's insistence under his formulation of the universal maxim, that lying is always wrong. The contemporary American philosopher Christine Korsgaard, finding flaws within Kantian ethics, put forth what is known as the "inquiring murderer" problem. Something to look into if you are interested in moral philosophy.
I chose "B" because I do not believe that people should be used as means to an end, they should be treated as an end, in and of themselves. Pushing the man off the boat to save the others is using his life as a means to the other's end; a utilitarian might find this permissible, but I do not.
I did not really answer the liver scenario because choosing who a liver goes to is an ethical decision surrounded by a set system of rules. The liver will always go to the first person on the list, unless that person does not meet the criteria for the transplant. Without looking over these specific rules, I have to agree that this is the correct course of action. The extraneous personal details should not have an effect on one's decision in this case.
b. I cannot conceive of a difference between critical thinking and ethical reasoning, unless your definition of ethics is based upon groundless (without reason) opinions. Ethics and values ought to be derived from critical thinking processes.
c. I was rated consistent apart from the lying scenario, which I explained above.
3. I'm not too sure what this question is asking. The outline(?) of my critical thinking disposition is to think critically; I assert this disposition in any application. Of course, this gets me in to trouble in cases where feelings take priority over critical thinking (e.g., various interpersonal situations).
Kyle Larimer
Linda,
ReplyDeleteRegarding the liver scenario you say: "My choice in this situation was consistent with my stated ethics. My first instinct was to give the child and females top priority." Do you mean by this that you originally stated that all human life is not equal? If so, I am curious to hear your reasoning behind this idea.
Kyle Larimer
Hope,
ReplyDeleteI certainly sympathize with you in terms of the over-analyzing of things. By over-analyzing one mitigates the probability of error. This seems to me a positive trait in most situations, as long as one maintains the ability of acting quick in situations that require expediency.
Kyle Larimer
The assignment this week was very involved and it really made you step back and not only decide on an answer but to reflect on the ideas presented. This week I want to highlight was each of you said about critical thinking and how it relates being interdisciplinary.
ReplyDeleteCallie said, “Critical Thinking relates to interdisciplinary because it requires you to use different aspects of your life in order to make a valid decision/argument. By having an integration of different disciplines, you are more likely to look at a situation from more than just one standpoint, thereby giving you a greater ability to critically think.” I like your thought on “your life” holding the weight on thinking critically. How we each experience life as an individual and relate the information at hand to our own experiences does show how if given the same facts, our conclusions vary based on our own critical thinking analysis.
Linda, you wrote, “My ability to use critical thinking and communicate the interdisciplinary of my areas of study is a key outcome of my formal education. As a student, a professional, and a mature adult I believe I am expected to be able to think critically both within and across the disciplines of my Interdisciplinary Studies degree program. Of course, this is not an unproblematic or simple task. Relating my critical thinking skills across several formal education areas of study gives me an opportunity to integrate my knowledge from within these disciplines and show that I am an overall effective individual. I like how you relate your critical thinking to your experience and your individualism. Experience offers insight that helps bridge the gap of inquiry which adds to an individuals critical thinking acumen.
Hope you said, “Because I tend to over-analyze everything, my critical thinking is not exempt from this. Analysis, paired with trying to “think outside the box” and put on the glasses of other’s perspectives is necessary for interdisciplinary study in order to reach the crucial integration of disciplines.” I will have to concur with Kyle’s comment that “I certainly sympathize with you in terms of the over-analyzing of things. By over-analyzing one mitigates the probability of error. This seems to me a positive trait in most situations, as long as one maintains the ability of acting quick in situations that require expediency.” I think that sums up truly how we all feel at times when analyzing a situation. The balance of critical thought and timeliness does have the tendency to cloud deduction, but taking the right amount of time in understanding the challenge will only assist in offering a decisive opinion.
Kyle, you said, “Being interdisciplinary is, in essence, simply being a critical thinker. When I approach a problem that calls for interdisciplinary thinking, I begin with a critical examination of the context the problem is situated within (i.e., disciplines, etc.). After examining this context, I can then deduce an appropriate path to a solution.” I feel you added that missing piece of understanding the context before offering a solution. In thinking about your response, a quote comes to mind, “knowing is half the battle.” Your thoughts really do open up that notion that if you understand the substance, you can construe an educated and informed opinion based on fact and critical thought.
Great work this week. Keep up the good work!
Kevin Edmondson
1. How does your critical thinking relate to being interdisciplinary?
ReplyDeleteI think that critical thinking relates to being interdisciplinary because it requires you to look at life from multiple perspectives. To be able to do this, there is a lot of thinking that comes into play. Not only are you having to think critically about your own areas and what you're studying, but it also means that it will require you to do this for others as well.
-Carly Frost
2a. Comment on your critical thinking reasoning that led to your decisions for all three scenarios: the friend's problem, the lifeboat problem, the liver problem.
ReplyDeleteFor the friends problem I went with telling her the truth because if she really is a close friend of mine, she knows what I will tell her is out of love and not to hurt her. For the lifeboat I said that I would hope for a miracle, I couldn't ever imagine pushing someone overboard-I would rather work in collaboration as a group to figure out the best way to handle the situation. For the liver I chose first come first serve. It took me awhile to figure this out but if I did process of elimination, I had no good starting point because they would all be qualified because there was no way to judge who needed it more.
b. Explain where your critical thinking gave way to your values, ethics, and beliefs? Comment on the differences you perceive between "ethical" and "critical" reasoning and what kinds of problems it caused in doing or reflecting on this exercise and even in your academic experiences.
I value people so the liver situation was quite difficult for me especially since there was a mother with 6 children and an 8 year old boy. I think ethical is what you think is best in the current situation or what our society has made to be best and that critical is in your own opinion really thinking and deciding the best thing to be done.
c. Comment on how the Virtual Philosopher scored your response. From the comments you received about your responses, what insight have you gained about your own critical thinking and reasoning?
I was consistent with the friend, inconsistent with the boat and consistent with the liver problem. I think that from this exercise I have gained that I want to do the best for everyones sake, but when it came to pushing over the 400 lb man, I couldn't do it.
-Carly Frost
3. How does the outline of your critical thinking disposition match with the application of it in doing the Virtual Philosopher?
ReplyDeleteI think this made me think critically about why I was choosing the answers I did. I chose the answers specifically because I thought it was right(ethical) and I had time to think through them (critical).
-Carly Frost
How does your critical thinking relate to being interdisciplinary?
ReplyDelete1)Critical thinking helps you deal with different situations and teaches you how to look at it from more than one perspective. The right direction is not always clear at first and may not be the same as someone else’s. By using my critical thinking skills and past experiences, I try to come out with the best solution. Sometimes I find myself making decisions more on value than ethics, which has everything to do with how I was raised. Having the opportunity to study three disciplines gives me more area of knowledge to make better thought out decisions, with more options in mind.
Christina Hope
2a)Comment on your critical thinking reasoning that led to your decisions for all three scenarios: the friends problem, the lifeboat problem, the liver problem.
ReplyDeleteThe Friend Problem: Considering that this was a close friend of mine, I would tell a little white lie to make her feel better. Bending the truth seems like a good idea in order to comfort her and let her adjust to the break up in the first place. After a few days, I would tell her the truth. I would tell her “yeah your odd, but who wants to be normal?!.” My close friends and I are all fun and dorky at times, but that makes us “us”. Normal is just plain boring.
The Lifeboat problem: I would never be able to just push someone out of the boat because of their weight, even if it was for survival. That is just not something I would feel comfortable doing to anyone. Everyone is important to someone and who are you to make that decision? I would just pray for a miracle.
The Liver Problem: In the liver transplant story, I was having a hard time making my decision as I went down the list of the choices of people and their situations. As soon as I get to the bottom of the page, the little boy immediately got my attention. I chose the young boy Chris, and I still feel confident in that decision. Children always seem like they should be put first because they have so much life to still live. I chose Sarah next, since she had 6 children that would need her care. Karen, due to her work status with healthcare was next on my list. Joe would be second to last and I feel confident in saying that even though Bob was first on the list, he was not deserving of this transplant. He was last on my list due to him being an alcoholic. It’s his own fault he needs a transplant in the first place by drinking too much. I know it is not ethical, but I believe it would be wrong to choose the alcoholic over an innocent child.
2b)Explain where your critical thinking gave way to your values, ethics and beliefs? Comment on the differences you perceive between “ethical” and “critical” reasoning and what kinds of problems it caused in doing or reflecting on this exercise and even in your academic experiences.
I feel like I gave ethical decisions to the three scenarios above. I answered the questions as if it was happening at this moment. Even though I feel confident in my decisions with the Liver Problem scenario, there were several sentences explaining to me why it should be a different answer. It made me think for a moment, but I still felt my answer was the one best fit.
2c)Comment on how the virtual philosopher scored your response. From comments you received about your responses, what insight have you gained about your own critical thinking and reasoning?
The virtual Philosopher graded me with consistency in all three scenarios. I feel like I went with my gut instinct in the situations, but with thought out reasoning to back it up . I have a big heart and I have a hard time with hurting someone’s feelings. That is why with the situation with Friend Problem dealing with the close friend, I would wait until she is stable again to bring it up. The insight I gained from this exercise was that everything goes back to past experiences and values gained along the way and now looking at different point of views. I was raised in a home where beliefs played a large role and I feel it has helped me make good choices day by day or learn from the mistakes and keep my head high.
Christina Hope
3. How does the outline of your critical thinking disposition match with the application of it doing the virtual philosopher?
ReplyDeleteWhen making decisions, I mostly use ethics but in some cases I go with my heart. I guess you could say that I used my heart in the liver scenario. I was choosing the children and mothers first, not the alcoholic guy who should have been first on the list from the beginning. Even though the virtual philosopher said I was not being fair, I felt like sometimes the situation should be reevaluated. But then again, that is not ethically right since the alcoholic man was first on the list despite what I may think.
Christina Hope
Critical thinking plays quite an important role in an interdisciplinary major; the two go hand in hand. To be a success in interdisciplinary, you must essentially be able to think critically. It is imperative in interdisciplinary that one ought to be able to find the “big picture”, from small details gathered. It in fact required a great deal of critical thinking to be able to choose what two areas of focus and minor would best suit you and how it would relate to what your future plans are. To be able to do this, one must be able to think in many different realms. Being able to think outside the box and analyze minute details is needed having an interdisciplinary major. It is important to be able to come up with groundbreaking ideas and see something from many perspectives, in this way, one is able to analyze details and find the best solution.
ReplyDeleteShawnee Bailey
I usually make it a priority to be real and true to my friends, because it is around these values that friendships rely. In this friend scenario, I found it almost impossible to tell her the truth, as that would probably drive her over the edge. I brought into fact that she was just dumped by someone very close who called her odd; my adding on to that by agreeing would have caused more destruction to her than anything else.
ReplyDeleteThe lifeboat scenario was an easy choice, for I could never give myself the power to play with faith, yet alone someone else’s life. For me, the only critical thought that went into my decision was, what if I were the four hundred pound person? If I were in their shoes, would I want someone else to decide whether or not I live? The obvious answer is NO. Even more, I wondered if I’d be able to live with myself if I made such a decision. I honestly wouldn’t be able to. It would be much easier to just hope for a miracle.
The liver scenario brought my mind much distress. Analyzing and weighing an issue such as this would be overwhelming to any human mind. I weighed each candidate’s need for the liver, who was the first to be put on the list, which would be benefited more, amongst many other things. The fact of the matter was they all deserved it. I considered leaving it up to chance initially, but then factored in that something as large as this shouldn’t be left upon chance. I ultimately choose the young boy.
My values, ethics, and beliefs worked hand in hand along with my critical thinking for the lifeboat issue. It was both ethical and a critical choice for me not to push the four hundred pound man overboard. For the friend scenario, although I value and believe in telling the truth at all times; my critical thought process found it best to spare my friends feelings and go easy on her. Although my telling her a little white lie was easily justifiable, doing what I know to be right (ethical) versus what I thought was right (critical)for the given situation, was a clear choice for critical. Sometimes in life, what we think ethically should be the clear cut choice, critical decisions comes into play and brings forth whole new thought processes. In the liver scenario, although ethically and morally, I knew the wisest thing to do was give the liver to the first on the list; I couldn’t turn my back to the critical thought that made me think the young boy had so much more to live for.
The virtual philosopher scored me just as I thought I would be scored. I received inconsistent with the friend and liver scenarios. I believe that lying is always wrong; yet in the friend situation, I would easily lie to her to spare her feelings. For the liver problem, I completely went above all ethics and morals and choose the young boy because my heart went out to him so much more. Based on the responses I received from these scenarios, I realized that my emotions play a rather large part in my critical thinking than I ever realized.
Shawnee Bailey
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI too consider myself a "realist" and found the same bias in the Virtual Philosopher regarding the lie scenario. You said that though some lies were permissible, they may not be harmless, white lies. Specifically, what kind of lies do you find justifiable? Give me an example. I'm curious. “I did not really answer the liver scenario because choosing who a liver goes to is an ethical decision surrounded by a set system of rules.” Was not answering an option?
Hope Diehl
The outline of my critical thinking disposition matches consistently with the virtual philosopher as I made the same decisions I would have made in a real world scenario. My critical thinking nature played a large part in the decisions I made in the Virtual Philosopher application.
ReplyDeleteShawnee Bailey
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete(1) I believe that there is a direct relationship between critical thinking and interdisciplinarity simply because in order to successfully tackle an task or solve a problem, you must be able to view the scenario in as many lights as necessary, incorporating foreign 'disciplines' if necessary in order to achieve goals. I use the term Discipline loosely in this context because it doesn't necessarily have to pertain to what we may define as a Discipline. It could merely be a second opinion, or another attempt from scratch at a plan.
ReplyDelete- Matthew Schaller
(2) The virtual Philosopher deemed that I was consistent in only two of three areas. I answered that "Killing innocent people (murder) is always wrong." However, when faced with the lifeboat situation, it seemed rational to me to sacrifice one life to spare 10, in comparison to risking the lives of 11 people. This is insightful because it shows me that perhaps I am a more rational or empirical thinker than I believe. The fact that my self-perception of myself differs from my actual self is notable; I perceive myself perhaps more innocent or morally guided than I actually am. The friend's dilemma was accurate. I believe very much in honesty and it reflected when faced with telling my friend a lie to spare him emotional discomfort. The kidney transplant was the most difficult decision to make. I chose Chris, the 8 year old boy. However, I did not determine this immediately. I felt that Bob, the homeless person, regardless of financial position, should not be given a liver based on the fact that he intentionally destroyed his own due to alcohol abuse. The wealthy business man, Joe, was attempting to buy his candidacy and this fact coupled with his age made me rule him out. The next person whom I checked off the list was Karen, the Nobel Prize winning doctor. Despite her contributions to AIDs research, I believed that at 60 years old it didn't make sense. This left the 26 year old mother of six, and the terminally ill 8 year old boy. After much debate, I chose the boy. The fact that Sarah was a mother of six did not really matter to me. I believed that Chris needed the transplant the most, and that the liver would ultimately be of most use and effectiveness, as far as longevity, if given to the boy. This is congruent with my more principle that "Ethically, some human lives are more worth saving than others."
ReplyDelete- Matthew Schaller
(3) I believe that the Virtual Philosopher proved that I have a tendancy to be self-aware of my true disposition towards critical thinking. However I believe that in certain situations, primarily ones fueled by other variables such as emotions, I tend to believe that I am more of a morally guided person rather than one who relies primarily on critical thinking.
ReplyDelete- Matthew Schaller