Heroes and Intellectuals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Heroes and Intellectuals - Essay Example That is a question that haunts us all at some point in our lives. â€Å"Weve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. Thats who we really are.† (Rowling, n.d.) Those who choose the light are expected to fight for it at all times. However, is being a hero an obligation? It is really a choice. In essence, evil, obligation and heroism are separable in various circumstances and this explains the belief that no one has the obligation to fight evil whereas he/she puts the lives of the loved one in danger. This essay seeks to dissect various aspects relative to evil, obligation and intellectuality. The word evil is associated with all sorts of bad things which may endanger the lives of people in a society. The question as to whether some people who have the ability to fight evil can do so even if the lives of their loved ones is in danger is debatable. Whereas I agree that, those with ability in political, religious or economic arenas to fight evil for the sake of the numerous lives of the other members of the society other philosophers such as Rousseau (1999), argues that there should be values attributed to any kind of heroism. Rousseau (1999) asserts that heroism requires recognition of values and a cognitive decision to undertake the top most risk in the fight for the attainment or defense of such values. This explains that despite that fact that heroism can be attributed to an element of choice, the fundamentals includes cognizance of the values and the greatness of the danger. This belief can be counter argued that heroism can be justified not only by choice by necessity . For instance, if only one option to save a life exists then this is attributed to personal sacrifice. In cases where personal sacrifice is foremost and the only way, then there is no aspect of choice in this situation. This explanation disqualifies the belief that heroism is by choice, because there is a possibility of making a choice not to save

Ethical Issues in the Criminal Justice Field (Untruthfullness) Article

Ethical Issues in the Criminal Justice Field (Untruthfullness) - Article Example s; stealing money and/or drugs from drug dealers; selling stolen drugs; protecting drug operations; providing false testimony; and submitting false crime reports† (General Accounting Office, 1998: 8). Between 1993 and 1997, at least half of the law-enforcement personnel convicted of corruption offenses while on duty were led to their actions through drug-related activities. In addition, more than 100 drug-related cases involving police officers are prosecuted within the country every year. Another indication of the widespread problem is found in the fact that all of the nation’s federal drug enforcement agencies have had at least one of its agents implicated in a drug-related offense. Throughout the country, officers have capitulated to the same temptations and potential rewards of the drug market that attracts their criminal counterparts. The ethical cost of this corruption has far-reaching repercussions not only within our law enforcement units, but also in our concept ion of society itself. It seems the causes of police corruption would be fairly easy to explain given the tremendous rewards associated with the drug trade. The financial rewards offered by the sales of illegal drugs in relation to other forms of income are enormous. This temptation comes on top of an increasing sense of frustration among law enforcement officers realizing the futility of their efforts as the number of drug traffickers continues to grow. This is also exacerbated by a society that has come to value material wealth much more than personal integrity or honorable behavior. The War on Drugs has been officially declared for 30 years now, resulting in the incarceration and prosecution of millions of people, but there has been no discernable positive effect. Drugs are now more available, cheaper and often more potent than ever before. Disheartened police officers often put their lives in jeopardy daily to fight against drugs, but must also deal with being under-paid and