Contemporary Moral Issues Essay
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- Category: Politics: Moral Issues
- Date Submitted: 11/28/2011 12:48 PM
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Contemporary Moral Issues Final Essay
Harold and Maude
1446 words total
Issue 6 (630 words)
In Harold and Maude the exact dialogue in the scene described to us in the question goes like this. “Harold- well, I really don’t smoke. Maude- It is alright it is organic. Harold- I am sure picking up on vices. Maude Vice? Virtue? It is best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality.”
I do not believe that Maude intended this sequence of events to be an invitation to immorality. She does not live her life in that manor. This actually has a deeper meaning than what is shown on the surface. What she may be implying is who decides what is a vice or what is immoral? Other people decide things like that. In her line of thinking smoking is not immoral just because someone else said it is. She is saying that if you go by what other people say you should do than you are not experiencing everything that life has to offer.
When Maude says that “you should aim above morality”, she is saying that you should not let these “immoral” barriers that other people set get in the way of experiencing life to the fullest. There are certain things that we are trained to stay away from or to assume are they are bad for us. Maude’s aim above morality philosophy on life basically is all about questioning why you can not do one thing or why it is immoral. She not only questions but she also goes with the flow and tries everything that she sees as “worth it” even if some people say that it is wrong. She also says there is a being too moral. This is also true in the same sense that if you think on this other extreme side where everything you do is based on morality than you will miss out on all of the simple pleasures in life because you are too focused on looking at whether or not something is considered moral to fully appreciate life. This also fits in with Blackburn’s ethical climate idea where Maude has...
Harold and Maude
1446 words total
Issue 6 (630 words)
In Harold and Maude the exact dialogue in the scene described to us in the question goes like this. “Harold- well, I really don’t smoke. Maude- It is alright it is organic. Harold- I am sure picking up on vices. Maude Vice? Virtue? It is best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality.”
I do not believe that Maude intended this sequence of events to be an invitation to immorality. She does not live her life in that manor. This actually has a deeper meaning than what is shown on the surface. What she may be implying is who decides what is a vice or what is immoral? Other people decide things like that. In her line of thinking smoking is not immoral just because someone else said it is. She is saying that if you go by what other people say you should do than you are not experiencing everything that life has to offer.
When Maude says that “you should aim above morality”, she is saying that you should not let these “immoral” barriers that other people set get in the way of experiencing life to the fullest. There are certain things that we are trained to stay away from or to assume are they are bad for us. Maude’s aim above morality philosophy on life basically is all about questioning why you can not do one thing or why it is immoral. She not only questions but she also goes with the flow and tries everything that she sees as “worth it” even if some people say that it is wrong. She also says there is a being too moral. This is also true in the same sense that if you think on this other extreme side where everything you do is based on morality than you will miss out on all of the simple pleasures in life because you are too focused on looking at whether or not something is considered moral to fully appreciate life. This also fits in with Blackburn’s ethical climate idea where Maude has...