"Lord of the Flies" Philosophical Essay .

Essay by Laska_plHigh School, 10th gradeA+, June 2003

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Dr. Mortimer Adler wrote the book Great Ideas from the Great Books. In his book he wrote about human nature and behavior, which is a common point in the book Lord of the Flies. Dr. Adler answered a lot of complicated philosophical questions in essay forms. One of theses questions was: " Are there any absolute distinctions between what is right and what is wrong? Or are such distinctions merely an expression of particular culture or of personal opinion?" Things that appear good to us are the things that we desire, but they should meet our natural needs, if they do, then they are really good and right.

Mortimer's believes in moral relativism, and his first main idea was that our moral rights depend on the society we belong to. Things that are right in some countries are wrong in others so there is really no way to determine what's right or what's wrong for every one.

The next important point that Mortimer discussed was that if you see real good in world and then desire it then you fallow real good. If you desire then call it good-you may be following only what appears to be good. He said that for those people whose moral judgment is based on personal taste calling an action good or bad is like saying "I like chocolate". Mortimer wrote that we could recognize if people have the right opinion about things only if they approve the things that are really good, not objectively right. The last idea that Mortimer wrote about was that men have certain natural things that need to be satisfied and the things that help then satisfy their needs are good. Adler give an example of knowledge, he said that knowledge is a good thing because everyone desires to know.