reverend doctor martin luther king jr W r i t i n g

36. The following is a quote take from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave:

“The visible realm should be likened to the prison dwelling, and the light of the fire inside it to the power of the sun. And if you interpret the upward journey and the study of things above as the upward journey of the soul to the intelligible realm, you’ll grasp what I hope to convey, since that is what you wanted to hear about. Whether it’s true or not, only the god knows. But this is how I see it: In the knowable realm, the form of the good is the last thing to be seen, and it is reached only with difficulty.”

Please explain how Plato’s use of this allegory relates personally to your moral philosophy of life, and perhaps how your perspective regarding a moral belief has changed, or not changed, as you have matured.

37. The following is a quote from Alfred Ayer’s Language, Truth and Logic, 2nd ed.:

“We can now see why it is impossible to find a criterion for determining the validity of ethical judgements. It is not because they have an “absolute” validity which is mysteriously independent of ordinary sense experience, but because they have no objective validity whatsoever.”

Ayer was an emotivist, one who believed that moral statements were neither true nor false, but simply expressions of feeling, meaningless. In what way(s) does/(do) his words reflect his moral philosophy?

PART IV (10 points each)

38. Four components of moral behavior identified by psychologist James Best are moral sensitivity, moral reasoning, moral motivation, and moral character. What does he mean by these terms? Please share an incident in your life where your moral character was shaped by your progression through these stages.

39. Do you think the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. was a heteronomous moral agent or an autonomous moral agent? Please give four SPECIFIC HISTORICAL examples from his life supporting your conclusion. What effect does his Letter from a Birmingham Jail have on your conclusion? Is there an application which connects with the present social unrest?