1. Do we have any ethical duties regarding what we do with our money?

For instance,

Peter Singer says that we have an ethical duty to give away any money that we earn that
is not spent on meeting our basic needs of foods and shelter to those who cannot afford
to pay for their basic needs.

I do not think that I have an ethical duty to give away my money to help others who

cannot afford to pay for their own basic needs. It should be my choice and I do not see it
as been an ethical duty to help meet the basic needs of others. If I have money left over
then I will donate. I think that federal and states government offer enough financial

support to families and individuals to help them get out of the bad situation. I think that
there are a lot of people out there who do not want to prosper and better their
situation, they dont want to put in the hard work to better off financially.

What are the basic needs? Basic needs refer to those things that are necessary to

sustain life. It is the minimum requirements of a community for a decent standard of

life. Basic needs consists of adequate food, shelter, and clothing plus some household

equipment and furniture. (http://definitions.uslegal.com/b/basic-needs/) Now days we

all want fancy phones and electronics, which are not basic needs.

I just feel that we are all capable of doing great things, especially here In the U.S.A.

There are many resources out there to help people get ahead; it is just a matter of how
bad you want it and how hard you are willing to work. Nothing has ever been handed
out to me; I have worked hard for what I have. I am not just going to give my money
away. If I have money left over I will save it for retirement or emergencies.

Some people in our group would not donate because they are not sure where the

money would end up. Lisa stated that we are helping through taxes and if she were to
help out she would donate to institutions instead of individuals. Cesar stated that we
should focus on ourselves and that we all have the capacity to get ahead. Overall we
agreed that it is not out ethical duty to donate our left over money. I belief it was
Aristotle who said we can all be what we want to be.

2. Is it unethical to eat meat? Do we have an ethical duty to be a vegetarian? Is it unethical

to eat any type of food?

I Believe that it is not unethical to eat meat, we have the choice to eat meat without

thinking about ethics or morals. Humans have been eating meat for the longest time

and I have been eating meat since I can recall. Just because Peter Singer chose not to

eat meat does not mean I have to follow his example. I have the right to choose what I

eat. It should not be a matter of ethics. Ethics is defined as moral principles that govern
a persons or groups behavior, and morals is defined as a particular system of values

and principles of conduct, especially one held by a specified person or society. We all

have different morals and values that can be traced back to our ancestors and it would
be difficult to change just because Peter Singer says it is wrong to eat meat. What is

wrong with eating meat? We all need to survive and humans are at the top of the food

chain. It is survival of the fittest. I believe that it is not unethical to eat any type of food

as long as it is the only food available to sustain life. The only food that I would consider
to be unethical to eat would be human meat. All of us in our group stated that it is not

unethical to eat meat. Lisa stated that she is to vegetarian and that she would not give
up meat, and that it should not be forced on to people, that it should be a personnel
choice. Lisa 2, states it is ok to eat meat, as long as animals are too tortured. Cesar

states that it is not unethical to eat meat, that it is a way to control animal population.
3. What is truth? How do we know we have arrived at truth? Are the skeptics correct that
we cannot ever have knowledge of the truth? Why or why not.

For me, truth is what we as individuals want to believe are true. Truth is what we belief
in and it can change from one day to the next. One thing can be true me, but someone

else might see it different than I do. Even if I have all the facts presented to me, I cannot
be certain that it is true; there will always be some doubt in my mind that there exists

the possibility that it is not true. Before taking this class, I thought that as long as I have

all the fact then it must be true, I have become somewhat of a skeptic. We can never be
certain of anything.

I do believe that the skeptics were correct that we cannot ever be certain about the
truth. The truth is always changing. I do believe that truth is relative, because we all

want to believe what conforms to our beliefs, values, morals and society itself. What is
true or right for me, might not be true for someone else.

I king of agree with Rene Descartes that the only thing we can be sure of is ourselves. I
know who I am, and know that I exist because I can feel life inside of me. Lisa states

that there is a universal truth and objective truth and that truth is based on our morals,
and that truth can change. Lisa 2 does not need proof to justify what is true. Cesar

states that we can never know everything, that truth can be created and nothing is
factual. Cesar believes that truth is relative.

4. How is good behavior Vs. bad behavior determined? Do the consequences of ones

actions define whether and action is good or bad, or is it the motivations or intentions
of the actor that matters. What matters most the action or the intensions behind the
actions, or both?

I think that there is no good or bad behavior, it all depends on our moral values, beliefs
and how we are raised and the society will live in. One is bad behavior in on part of the
world might be viewed as good behavior in another part of the world.

In Mexico, one does not have to be a certain age to buy beer, I can send by 5 year old
son to the store to buy beer and no one will judge him or I for his actions, here in the
U.S.A that is viewed as bad, and I might even go to jail, even worse my son could be

taken away. So, I believe that society and government has a lot to do when it comes to
determining what is good and bad behavior.

It is the intensions of the actor that matter. Just because I was not caught stealing does
not make it right. For me stealing is stealing no matter what the intension is.

Overall, we as a group believe that the powerful and elite determine what is consider
right and wrong. Cesar states that our beliefs help us distinguish between right and

wrong. Lisa states that stealing is stealing no matter what the intension is, and that

stealing affects the community as a whole, because the prices of product will increase.

5. If we do the right action for the wrong reason, is it less moral? (I.e. giving money to
charity in order to cut my tax bill.

I do not feel that doing the right action for the wrong reason is less moral. I see it as a
win-win situation when I donate used stuff to charity in order to cut my tax bill. My

other option would be to throw away the stuff. If I donate it other people that are less

fortunate will benefit from it, it creates jobs and I get to pay less taxes. For Lisa it is not

immoral to donate in order to pay less tax, it is a win-win situation and not one is getting
hurt by it. Cesar states that if you brag about doing a good did, then that is immoral.
Lisa 2 does thing for the right reason and not only because it will benefit her.

6. Are bad actions that are completed with good intent less moral? (E.g. stealing food to
help the poor.

I think that stealing is stealing and it does not matter the reason why one does it. If I
were in a situation were the only way to get food on the table was to steal, I think I

would do it, but I would ready to face the consequences if caught stealing. Just because
the outcome is good does not make the action right. Laws/rules are implemented and
enforced to keep order in a society. A society without laws would be chaos.

I belief that the majority of us perform good action because doing them benefits us in a
certain way.

7. What does living the good life mean?

Living the good life consist of not having to work, lots of money, friends, traveling and just been
happy, but let get real I know that is impossible. I just have to be content with what I have, and

enjoy life. To me money is not everything in life, it cannot buy true happiness. There are people
wo have lots of money, an unhappy. For me living the good life consist of family, friends, good

health, basic needs and just been content with what I have. Happiness can mean different thing
to different people. To me being happy means a life with the least amount of stress, and having

someone to share my life with. Being illness free is one of the most important quality of life one
can have, without it one is limited to so many things and cannot enjoy life to its fullest extent.
What good is money if one has no family and friends to share it with?

I disagree with the hideous, that we should just eat, drink and be marry. If I were to live life like
a hideous, eventually life would be boring. I just cannot imagine eating and drinking day after
day. I want a more relax quality of life.

8. What are the qualities of a superior individual?

The qualities of a superior individual are the following: honesty, high integrity, great leader,

compassionate, understanding, and have great communication skill. A superior individual must
be able lead, but most important is that people actually want to be led by that individual.

Superior individual should lead by example and motivate other people to better themselves.

9. To what extent, if any, does happiness related to living the good/ moral life? What is happiness?
In order for me to happy I must live a good and moral life, my conscious must be clean. For me
to have a clean conscious I need to have good moral values, be a model citizen and not be a

burden to society. I do think that happiness and living a good/moral life are correlated to each

other; I cannot have bad morals and have happiness. I dont think I can go day by day thinking of
the bad things I have done and still be happy.

10. T what extent, if any, does ones duties to society/other people relate to living a morally
good life.

I believe that we need to contribute to society to make it a better place to live for

generations to come. In order to make this a better place we all need to work together,
respect each other and treat other individuals the way we want to be treated. Each

generation should teach the young good moral values to make the world a better place
to live. Lisa states that we should all teach the young one how to make this a better
world for everyone to live in.