Krishani Bradley

Carroll, Crain-Davis, Uribe, Marrs, Wilczynski

American Literature
April 7th, 2019

10 Rules To Live By Justification Paper

Ethics are the moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an

activity. Justice is when a person does something they feel is good for someone or something no

matter if the consequences are bad or not. Ethics and justice are related because they are both a

set of actions that are based on your personal belief or behaviors. The 10 rules I believe people

should live by are based guided by the virtue framework.

First, the virtue framework is when you are concerned with what kind of person you

should be and what your actions indicate about your character based on one’s experiences,

emotions, and thoughts that can influence the development of one’s character The first group of

rules is called the “Don’t(s)” The “Don’t” group means that if you don’t do them then you are a

step closer to becoming a good person. The first rule of the “Don’t group is “Do No Harm.” If

you want to be a good person in society, then the first step is to no do anything harmful towards

one another. The second rule is “Don’t Judge.” Judging a person by things you may have heard

or think you know is not morally right because you need to give people the benefit of the doubt

before assuming things you don’t know. In our paideia about different scenarios including killing

five workers to save one worker or killing one to save those five. Many people said to kill that

one to save five because that one guy was probably mean and lazy, that’s why he was working

by himself. You can’t judge someone based on a situation. Maybe if people knew the
background as to why he was working alone then they would change their answer. This goes

back to my claim because in order to become a good person in society you should do what you

personally feel is right, not because you have to.

The second group of rules I labeled is called “Leadership.” Leadership is when someone

goes above and beyond the ordinary way of life. The rules I have in this category are “Be A

Leader, Maintain A Positive Attitude, Hold Yourself Accountable For Your Actions, Be

Independent, and Be Honest.” These rules are similar because in order to be a good person you

have to start by being different than everyone else. Maintaining a positive attitude can be a

struggle especially when things are tough, but that just shows how strong you are in tight

situations. Holding yourself accountable for your actions is one thing many people don’t do

nowadays but need to because its morally right to take responsiblity for your actions, good or

bad. Being independent is someone many people need to start doing. You can’t always depend

on others to do things for you, you need to go out and do things for yourself. Remember that life

isn’t put on a silver platter and handed to you. Being honest is the major key to becoming a good

person. Without honesty, a leader can’t lead with integrity. Honesty leader regarded as a very

important thing because the leaders of dishonesty can lead to other negative actions. In our first

paideia, we discussed the William Brown case and was he right or wrong for saving certain

people on the boat. Majority of the class said he was doing an obligation of solidarity because he

saved more of his crew members than the passengers. I was always the one to speak up and

disagreed because I felt like he just reacted and saved as many people as he could. Mostly his

crew members but he saved some lives. This goes back to my claim because many people do
things from what they feel is right and sometimes they just act before thinking all the way

through.

The third group I put together is called “Human dignity.” Human Dignity is the morals

and obligations people should have because they feel its right. The rules are “Show Fairness,

Have to Respect To Those Who Earned It, Practice Forgiveness.” These rules are similar because

it shows these are the rules many people should have and spread to others. Showing fairness is

important because you don’t want to seem bias. Having respect to those who earned it means

only show respect when it's given to you, not because you have to. Practicing forgiveness is

something people need to do nowadays because holding grudges get you nowhere in life. Yes,

you’re mad now, but will you remember why five years later? This goes back to my claim

because your dignity is based on what you believe, not what you have to do.

I came up with this list because I grew up doing certain things because I was told it was

right. But as I grew older, I learned that I have to do what’s best for me and not anyone else.

That’s how everyone should think because you are in control of how you feel and what you do.

Yes, you are told these things but are they really gonna make you feel good as a person? I

revised the list by changing one or two rules because they sounded similar. Then, I grouped them

into different categories that fit.

To conclude, I do live by these rules because I feel they are morally right and are the

steps of becoming a good person. If people in society lived by these rules, then life would be way

different then it is now. Life would be more calming then how it is now.