Kirk Roberts P.

Reboroso 4-Phl

January 7, 2013 Ethics

1.) Is there an ethical or moral implications on the concept of gift-giving? In our last meeting, we had already talked about the value of gift-giving. First, we defined what a gift is. A gift must not be expected by the receiver, it should be in the form of surprise. It is true because what would be the essence of a gift if a person already knows what he or she will be going to receive. A gift is also driven by magnanimity or generosity, in other words, the gift is more valuable to the giver that to the recipient. In gift-giving, it is said that there is no justice for the reason that there is no fairness, so as to say, that gift-giving must surpass or to go beyond exchange. Moreover, gift-giving is not like a super big event, but it is something so pure and so mundane. After giving some definitions of gift or gift-giving, let us try to seek or search if in gift-giving there is a corresponding ethical implication on it. In my own opinion, the first thing that comes to my mind is that, there is an ethical or moral implication of gift-giving. If I am right, I think and strongly believe that Ethics is all about the concept of value. A lot of things in this world, we put some certain value on them. Value is the origin of many things especially morality and knowledge. The ability of assigning value, especially to that of goodness, then, it is pursuable. In these statements, I can say that when you give a gift, there is already this ethical implication for there is this we call value. For example, the story of O. Henrys The Gift of the Magi, what is very interesting is that both of them give their most valued possession in order to have their best present to each other. The best gift is that when the giver doesnt know what he is giving, and the receiver doesnt know what he is receiving. There are also

some instances wherein a gift can be said to be moral or immoral. It falls under the value judgment, which is a value judgment, a judgment on something that what is good or bad. For example, if you receive a very expensive basketball shoes, you can say that it is a good gift, but what if you have no legs, then you can call it a bad gift. But if you look at it closely, it seems that there are problems on it. In ethics, there is an exchange, in other words, it is a two-way process. There is a person who is giving, and there is also a person who is receiving. But in gift-giving, it is only a one-way process, you only give something but not asking for a return, in other words, it is only for the sake of giving and not for the sake of asking a return to the person whom you have given the gift. Another that is also intriguing is that, gifts break something to that of ethics. For example, if you give a gift, there is something out to be, and there must be necessary about it. And I can say that it is in the boundary and the very edge of ethics. Ethics demands us something, but to our dismay, it is practically impossible. Moreover, can you receive or how can you receive a gift that costs too much? In this question, it breaks the boundaries of ethics. In Arthur C. Clarkes The Star, it is easy to believe in God when you can still justify it, but how can you justify God because of magnanimity or generosity? It is very hard, but maybe it is the main point. At some point, you must stop thinking about the exchange or the cost of that gift. A very good example of this is that, God gave his son Jesus Christ because he wanted to give it, and there are no second thoughts after that. This is what I have formulated in my mind, I hope I made a good point in answering the main question of the paper.