Michelle Lara

Mrs. O’Keefe

American Literature

07 April 2019

Becoming Great Civilians

What is ethics and justice to you? Ethics is the development of moral principles that

guide a way an activity is conducted or a person's behavior. On the other hand, justice is when

fair treatment and fair decisions are made by a person. The ethical frameworks that guide my 10

rules to becoming a great civilian is the duty framework, natural duties, and the virtue framework

because this leads people to morally doing the right thing.

To being with, the ethical framework that guides my 10 rules to becoming a great civilian

is the duty framework. In order to follow the duty framework you must, 1.) Do No Harm, 2.) Do

Not Force Others, and 3.) Do Not Mock others. All these rules indicate that a person shouldn’t

feel harmed physically and emotionally. Rule number one, do no harm, is straightforward

indicating that a person should never be harmed but another person’s action brought upon them.

Rule number two, do not force others, is meant to tell people to not put people in a situation they

please not to be in. The last rule, do not mock others, signifies to tell people that they shouldn’t

laugh or tease people scornfully because it hurts people emotionally. In our reading of ​A

Framework for Making Ethical Decisions​, it states that “we focus on the duties and obligations

that we have in a given situation, and consider what ethical obligations we have and what things

we should never do.” This shows that decisions we make should never objectify a person’s
feelings about themselves. We should always make them feel comfortable with everyone who

comes in contact with them.

Secondly, the ethical framework that guides my 10 rules to becoming a great civilian is

natural cities. In order to follow natural duties you must, 4.) Be Honest To People, 5.) Be

Respectful To One Another, 6.) Treat Everyone Fairly and 7.) Do Not Disrespect People of

Other Race. Rule number 4, be honest to people, indicates that people should never tell lies to

someone because what happens if they live up to that lie, it would not be good for them. Rule

number 5, be respectful to one another, indicates that people should always respect people if they

want to be respected. You should never expect someone to treat you right when you treated them

wrong. Rule number 6, treat everyone fairly, indicates that people should be included in things

even though you may not know them, them being include can make their day. Last rule, do not

disrespect people of other race, indicates that people should never degrade someone by speaking

racial slurs. In our discussion of ​Excerpt from Justice: What’s the Right Thing To Do?, i​ t states

that “They include the duty to treat persons with respect, to do justice, to avoid cruelty, and so

on.” This ties in rules number’s 4 through 7 because it shows that we owe these things to persons

as rational beings. They are not objects, they are people like us and we should never degrade

them.

Lastly, the ethical framework that guides my 10 rules to becoming a great civilian is the

virtue framework. In order to follow the virtue framework you must, 8.) Know Your Duties At a

Certain Time, 9.) Stand Up For One Another, and 10.) Check On One Another. Rule number 8,

know your duties at a certain time, indicates that a person should know when to act or speak a

certain way at a certain time because it would be disrespectful to the people around you. Rule
number 9, stand up for one another, indicates that people should always have each others back if

one is feeling discomfort. And the last rule, check on one another, indicates that people should

always check on people even if you don’t know them. Go up to a person who looks down at

school and ask how is their day going because that shows you’re a caring person who made a

good moral decision. In the Excerpt from Justice, it states “we try to identify the characters traits

(either positive or negative) that might motivate us in a given situation.” This ties in with rules

number’s 8 through 10 because it shows that the decisions we make shape us to who we are to

become good civilians so us following these rules define the ethical behavior as whatever a

virtuous person would do in the situation.

During the process of creating these 10 rules, I had the thought in my head that the rules

should be based on how the community has been treating one another today. I believed that the

rules I created should help people not feel degraded by statements or actions done by citizens.

After creating the 10 rules and receiving advice from my peers, a revision I made was for rule

number 10. At first the rule was said to be to help others when help is needed but I had a rule

similar to that which was rule number 8. So then I changed it that people should check on one

another.

If I were to live up to these 10 rules, it would change my life completely because I would

know and feel safer in a world where people respect one another. Same thing if everyone lived

by these rules everyone’s lives would be positive and peaceful because of the ethical decisions

made. Like one says, it would make the world a better place.