Are We Responsible for Others?

Cornel West in the article "Moral Obligations of Living in a Democratic Society" discusses at the beginning the idea of tradition, which is according to his point of view " to be a human under a specific set of circumstances and conditions. " He also adds that any discussion about race is always complex and irrational. That is the intro for him to talk about being an African-American in the society, and how his color, size, and body parts have put him in some terrible situations. In addition, West mentions that the wealth distribution is completely unfair and wrong, which is keeping the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Blaming the history which is written by the elites for the sustainability of that situation. Then he argues that the survival of democracy is based on the security of the middle class. Then he asks " what is the role of the most disadvantaged in relation to the public interest? " In his opinion, it is a mandatory and fundamental question to ask if we live in a democratic society. West advocates that communication among society is possible only if we care about each other, so when we stop that aggression will be generated to prevent dialogue. West lists "mutual respect, personal responsibility, and social accountability" as democracy basics. Furthermore, he argues that the market culture that controls us nowadays is the reason way it is so difficult to nurture spirituality. He believes that the solution is not easy and needs time. He describes empathy as the willingness to have enough courage to do something about what others are going through. West believes that we can make the society better, which is the main goal of morality. "Divide command or biblical ethics" and "natural law ethics" are the two ethical systems raised in this article. In another article about morality by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry under the title "Morality Is a Muscle. Get to The Gym. " He says that when people discuss morality, they talk about what is right and what is wrong. He argues that we need to ask ourselves another question before that which is how we think about morality and how to achieve it. Gobry lists three major schools of thought. The first is " Deontological Ethics, " according to this school morality is based on rules, whatever breaks these rules is wrong. The second school defines morality as " consequentialist ethics" which sees moral judgments according to the consequences of an action. Wrong actions are those of negative impacts. "Virtue ethics" is the most interesting definitions of ethics to Gorby. In this school, morality is compared to a muscle where you need to "work on being kinder, more empathetic, and wiser. " Finally, he argues that morality and rationality are the same, since, as he says, " they both mean making good choices. " This article agrees with the "natural law. " However, he disagrees with the "Divide command or biblical ethics" because he says "doing good wasn't just about obeying some celestial law or bringing about some positive change in the world — although those are important — they are about becoming the best version of yourself you can be. " Finally, what is the answer for the question " are we responsible for others? " Of course, we are, but to what extent and how. Democracy means that everyone is the president, everyone is responsible for everything and is a part of the decision-making process. A person must act as if he is the authority. That means you are responsible for yourself, you are responsible for your dependents, you are responsible for preserving humanity, you are responsible for other species, you are responsible for the environment and the resources you are using, don’t ever wait for someone else to come and solve your problems. Everyone must act to save himself before anybody else. Many people argue that they don’t know what is wrong and what is write. In my opinion, It is extremely simple to know that, just follow your feelings because what's wrong is not acceptable by a human heart. At least we need to communicate and to talk with each other, as West says "Dialogue is the lifeblood of democracy and is predicated on certain bonds of trust and respect. "