Question
1) How would you define Modern Political Bravery and Public Service today?
2) We hear a lot about Police Brutality and there is evidence that this does occur. But speak to various examples of when 1st Responders, be they Police, Fire, EMT or others show great moral courage for the sake of the Common Good.
3) What does Senator John McCain mean when he says that “without courage all virtue is fragile?” and when he says “doing one’s nearest duty?”
4) What does Jesse Prinz mean by saying that “it isn’t enough to commiserate with victims – we should get uppity?”
Solution
Ethics and Morality
- Modern Political Bravery and Public Service Today
Modern political bravery alludes to a virtue that should be emulated. A virtuous leader should be a dynamic person whose power and intentions are geared towards doing what is right. Such a perspective is important since a person’s ethics should reflect the kind of politics he/she would like to accomplish (Aranzadi, 2012). Consequently, one should proceed to shape their virtuous character, and be ready to rationally justify the choice. On the other hand, public service, is directly linked to virtue theory as it primarily integrates a subject’s character and capability to render service in the public interest with integrity (Curzer, 2017). Political morality is essential at the polity level since public service requires a thoughtful, courageous, generous, and truthful person.
- First Responders, be they Police, Fire, EMT or others show great moral courage for the sake of the common good.
The immediate task of first responders, police, firefighters, and emergency medics, is to make sure that they mitigate any risk of harm at every scenario. Despite police brutality, they also show great moral courage for the public interest. While at different scenes, the first responders undertake activities that they believe are vital and of great priority in that moment (Price & O’Neill, 2020). A proper understanding of their responsibilities guarantees that in case of accidents, crimes, or fires, there are minimum to no casualties. Indeed, the individuals ensure they protect and safeguard lives to the highest extent.
- What does Senator John McCain mean when he says that “without courage all virtue is fragile?” and when he says “doing one’s nearest duty?”
Senator McCain’s saying that “doing one’s nearest duty”, means that everyone has a duty to focus on their obligations. He coined this excerpt from a unitarian social reformer Freeman Clarke. The senator also said that “without courage all virtue is fragile,” which is about doing one’s obligation. According to McCain, everyone should perform at a steady pace, doing their tasks at their level best. Therefore, we need the courage to have a conviction of professing virtues that add to society’s progress. According to McCain, without this, the society is corruptible.
- What does Jesse Prinz mean by saying that “it isn’t enough to commiserate with victims – we should get uppity?”
Jessy Prinz was quoted saying, “it isn’t enough to commiserate with victims – we should get uppity”. Prinz means that simply sympathizing with victims whom we feel empathetic and vicarious about could result in significant shortcomings. Notably, empathy may be biased and selective; hence, it lacks a broad coverage of moral concerns (Coplan & Goldie, 2011). Instead, we should seek a holistic approach to issues and intellectually understand that the suffering of any human is outrageous.
References
Aranzadi, J. (2012). The natural link between virtue ethics and political virtue: The morality of the market. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(3), 487-496. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1602-1
Coplan, A., & Goldie, P. (2011). EmpathyPhilosophical and psychological perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199539956.001.0001
Curzer, H. (2017). Aristotle and moral virtue. Oxford Handbooks Online. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199385195.013.14
Price, T. G., & O’Neill, R. M. (2019). EMS, Crime Scene Responsibility. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499999