Universal Cultural Values Essay - 1290 Words

On an otherwise ordinary day in England, a shadowy figure wearing a Guy Fawkes mask enters the state controlled television studio and at gunpoint, forces its employees to broadcast a specially prepared video addressing the people of England. In the video, the very same mysterious masked man chastises the English people for their disregard for the once cherished values of duty, freedom and honor, values shared by many ancient civilizations. While at first glance, western culture as represented in the movie, V for Vendetta, may seem drastically different from those of ancient societies, many underlying philosophical similarities do emerge deep down. Even though modern westerners enjoy enhanced lives due to technology, medicine, and†¦show more content†¦Arjuana’s advisor, Krishna, reprimands Arjuana for failing on his ascribed duty as a warrior and reassures him that death does no harm upon a person’s soul: â€Å"Bodies are said to die, but that which possesses t he body is eternal. It cannot be limited or destroyed. Therefore you must fight,† (From the Bhagavad-Gita). He then goes and reminds Arjuana of his duty: â€Å"But if you refuse to fight this righteous war, you will be turning aside from your duty. You will be a sinner and disgraced,† (From the Bhagavad-Gita). While Indian concepts of duty describe daily marginal duties, western ideas concern the responsibility of the government in the Social Contract Theory. The theory states that government has an obligation to protect its citizens in exchange for obedience and consent of the government; if government fails its duty, the citizens have the right to overthrow that government. The oppressive government in V for Vendetta dominates its people through fear and intimidation; citizens of the future government of England under Adam Sutler enjoy none of the freedoms of thought and expression that typical modern westerners of today enjoy. Because the futuristic English governmen t fails on its duty to uphold the social contract theory, V instigates a revolution by demanding the English people to stand up for their rights and mandate that the government uphold its rightful obligation. V blames the people for failingShow MoreRelatedMoral Realism And Normative Ethics1189 Words   |  5 Pagesgrounds morality. Here we will use the following normative and meta-ethics to discover how moral realism, moral anti-realism, and cultural relativism can all change what a person or a society believes they â€Å"ought† to do to be morally right. When asking what one ought to do moral realism says that there is only one answer. Moral realism tries to identify moral values that are objective and allows us to use the rules of logic to judge moral statements but it also believes that if two beliefs areRead MoreAre Human Rights Universal? Essay1601 Words   |  7 PagesAre human rights universal? 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