Preview

Conscience/Money, Power, Fame Sat Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
862 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Conscience/Money, Power, Fame Sat Essay Example
Buying a car is an important decision to make life. Some might choose to get the more expensive and extravagant car which would put them in a financial disability but they don’t care because they want to be known and seen as having this car. But some might use ther conscience and know that the better decision is to buy the more normal and less extravagant car in order to make sure their financial disability is stable even though they want that other crazy expensive car. Many people in this world base their decisionson money, fame, and power over conscience. This causes people to make bad decisions which lead to bad situations. But there are many examples that show that there are people that live and had lived in the world that use conscience as their motivator for their decisions. This leads to smart and thought through decisions which lead to very beneficial outcomes. As seen through the examples of “The Iliad”, the historical event of Jacksonian Bank Wars of the late 1830s, and modern day famous people like Bill and Melinda Gates it’s clear that conscience and fame, money, and power are potent motivators for decision making.
The love of money, goes the old adage, is the root of all evil. Money, as well as desire for fame and power, is powerful catalysts that compel people from all walks of life to particular decisions, right of wrong. The love of money and the desire for fame and power are more powerful motivators than conscience itself. This principle, while cynical, is exemplified in both literature and history. The notion that power, money, and fame are more powerful motivators than conscience is illustrated in history, in the Jacksonian Bank Wars of the late 1830s. Andrew Jackson was a hot tempered man who would lash out against those who opposed him. Henry Clay encouraged the recharter of the Second National Bank of the United States. Clay knew that Jackson's opposition to the charter would lose votes for Jackson. Had Jackson followed his conscience,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    One of the Jacksonian Democrats' attempts to reduce the influence of the rich was by vetoing the charter to the Bank of the United States. Jackson stated his reasons in Document B mainly as a precaution of the rich taking over and bending "the acts of government to their selfish purposes." Daniel Webster's retaliation article on Jackson's veto message replied by strongly addressing their hypocritical ways. He states in Document C why the veto was unreasonable. Webster also warns how it may backfire due to the injustice.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conscience is something inside of us which distinguishes good from evil and makes us feel guilty when we have done something wrong. As defined by the Oxford Dictionary of English, is ‘A person’s moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as acting as a guide to one’s behaviour’. It plays a decisive role in any moral decision, and just like normative ethics, one can base their moral decisions on their conscience just as a utilitarian would base his moral decisions on the principle of utility – ‘greatest good for the greatest number’. However, on an assessment of whether the conscience is the most reliable guide for moral decision making is determined by one’s subjective view on what the conscience actually is, which has been tackled by many philosophers.…

    • 1888 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are two types of conscience: the authoritarian conscience which is the internalized voice of authority that we are eager to please and are afraid to displease; and the humanistic conscience which is the voice that…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Psychological Egoism

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ethics is a requirement for human life. It is our means of deciding a course of action. Without it, our actions would be random and aimless. There would be no way to work towards a goal because there would be no way to pick between a limitless numbers of goals. Even with an ethical standard, we may be unable to pursue our goals with the possibility of success. To the degree which a rational ethical standard is taken, we are able to correctly organize our goals and actions to accomplish our most important values. Any flaw in our ethics will reduce our ability to be successful in our endeavors. Since psychology and morality are related, moral theories must be psychologically realistic which consequently includes behaviorally/motivationally realistic. This correlation between our cognitive processes and our resulting behavior are two variables of ethics that must be considered and thereby examined closely. While psychological egoism isn’t an ethical theory and rather discusses our motivation for certain behaviors, we still find the connection to this example and examples from previous chapters.…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anthony Robbins once said “It’s in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” People make so many quick decisions unconsciously, whereas other decisions are lamented over. Society makes choices and creates opinions through deep mental thought which is influenced by preference, logic, feelings, and reflection. Some people may even question whether free will is a believable concept. Others believe it is all within our own power to make decisions that will lead to greater happiness. Little decisions lead to big consequences because when small and simple decisions are made, big decisions are to come, choices indicate character, and every decision made impacts other decisions.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many different perspectives in moral decision making in terms of the conscience. The conscience’s main contributors are from both religious and Christian standpoints.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ethical Egoism

    • 1596 Words
    • 7 Pages

    We are often taught at an early age that when struggling to make a decision to “let our consciences be our guides”. Conscience can be defined as our adherence to moral principles, or our considerations of fairness and justice. The word “consideration” is used because every individual has their own standards for what they feel to be morally right versus what they feel to be morally wrong, however this concept is not as black and white as it may seem.…

    • 1596 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gracia's Work

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Morality impacts our everyday decisions, and those choices are directed by our conscience. Again, we must decide for ourselves where the conscience originates. Many people hold to the idea that the conscience is a matter of our hearts, that concepts of right,…

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conscience is a moral sense of right and wrong, especially felt by a person which will affect their behaviour due to an inner feeling of the ‘correct’ approach to take in a given situation. The majority of people tend to agree with the belief that there is such thing as conscience. In this essay I will be assessing whether the conscience should always be obeyed. Philosophers have made theories giving reasons why we should or should not always follow our conscience. They are divided into groups, religious and secular. Religious philosophers are Aquinas, Butler and Newman. Fromm, Freud and Piaget take on a secular approach.…

    • 1790 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Research on ethical decision making has been heavily influenced by normative decision theories that view intelligent choices as involving conscious deliberation and analysis. Recent developments in moral psychology, however, suggest that moral functions involved in ethical decision making are metaphorical and embodied. The research presented here suggests that deliberative decision making may actually increase unethical behaviors and reduce altruistic motives when it overshadows implicit, intuitive influences on moral judgments and decisions. Three lab experiments explored the potential ethical dangers of deliberative decision making. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that deliberative decision making, activated by a math problem-solving task or by simply framing the choice as a decision rather than an intuitive reaction, increased deception in a one-shot deception game. Experiment 3—which activated systematic thinking or intuitive feeling about the choice to donate to a charity—found that deliberative decision making could also decrease altruism. These findings highlight the potential ethical downsides of a rationalistic approach toward ethical decision making and call for a better understanding of the intuitive nature of moral functioning. Corporate scandals have crowded American media for the last decade: Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and what contributed to the recent Wall Street meltdown, to name just a few. Although individuals’ unethical conduct—such as hiding corporate losses to obtain lucrative bonuses, reporting fraudulent auditing to secure a client, or giving loans to home buyers who cannot afford them—are seldom the sole cause, their decisions sit at the center of those calamities. This makes understanding how people resolve ethical dilemmas that pit self-interest against doing the right thing more important than ever. Consequently, studies on ethical decision making have…

    • 12689 Words
    • 51 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    As in any study, it is imperative that all participants are treated ethically. Examination of the cover letter for the mail survey exposes two ethical issues related to the ethical treatment of participants. The cover letter does not truthfully explain the benefits of the survey and it deceives the participants. A cover letter should clearly express who is conducting the research; this cover letter gives the impression that research is being conducted for the companies that advertise in Penton Media publications. In reality, the research is actually being conducted for Penton Media directly. Additionally, a cover letter should include how the information will be used to benefit the participants. The study is also unclear if participants provided informed consent. Cooper and Schindler (2011) define informed consent as "a matter of fully disclosing the procedures of the proposed survey or other research design before requesting permission to proceed with the study."…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ethics Essay

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages

    First we want to take a look at Virtue Ethics, also known as Virtue Theory. This theory shows the focus of the character of people more than the rules and consequences of their actions. What this essentially means is that the focus is primarily on whether or not the person acting Virtue Theory, ethically is a person who upholds high morals and virtues, in turn expressing “good character” (Boylan, 2005). As Garrett explains in the text, there are things such as rules, intent, and consequences, and outcomes that are not irrelevant; yet, the focus on the theory is basically the person’s character, virtues, and good intentions (Boylan, 2009).…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Webster’s dictionary defines integrity as a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values, or incorruptibility. Integrity is one of the essential qualities for law enforcement officers and even more so for a police chief or county sheriff. The reason that the police chief and county sheriff must maintain such a high level of integrity is because we expect and demand that they will be able to effectively uphold the law and do what is right in a case where one of their officers does something morally or ethically wrong. We look to them to be incorruptible, to always do what is right no matter what the circumstance. If integrity didn’t exist, our whole justice system would fall apart and become null and void.…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    To understand, virtue, ethics, and morality we must first understanding there meanings. According to Boatright, “”morality and ethics are interchangeable; however, they have some subtle differences.” (Ethics and Conduct of Business, Boatright) Webster’s Dictionary describes ethics as the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation; a set or moral principles. Webster’s Dictionary describes moral as of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior; expressing or teaching a conception of right behavior; conforming to a standard of right behavior; sanctioned by or operative on one's conscience or ethical judgment. Webster’s Dictionary describes virtue as conformity to a standard of right. Aristotle’s’ definition of virtue, which I prefer, “virtue is as character trait that manifests itself in habitual action”.…

    • 1504 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Valuing Process

    • 1454 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This first layer of conscience, the “valuing process”, can be perceived as the outer shell from its basic and common decisions in the daily life, which anyone can see it with a little observation. This layer acts initially as an “interface receiver of information”.…

    • 1454 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays