Citlali Olivares

Ms.O’Keefe/Mr.Kelly

American Literature

1 April 2018

10 Rules that Foster a Good Person

One of the main goals in many societies of the world is for people to be ‘good’ as much

as possible. By ‘good’ we mean ‘ethical. An ethical person is one who knows what is right from

wrong in situations. Ethics has been known to relate to justice. If a person is trying to make

justice in a situation, then they have to consider the ethics that were involved and what are the

ethical choices they have, to create justice. Sometimes justice and ethics can create controversy

as a person can seem to be creating justice but violating the ethics. As people continue to

question what qualities a ‘good’ person, it is important to follow and consider 10 rules, which are

guided by the Consequentialist Framework and our Natural Duties as humans.

The first rule that everyone should aby by would be “Do No Harm”. This rule is

important because it is obvious that we should not cause harm to another person to prevent

yourself to be harmed as well. This is reflected in “Justice: What’s the right thing to do?” where

the author, M. Sandel, states “ They include the duty to treat persons with respect, to do justice,

to avoid cruelty, and so on” (223). This shows the importance of the rule because it connects to

the natural duty of everyone to treat people with respect. We owe it to everyone to not harm

them simply because we are all rational human beings. This also related to the Consequentialist

Framework. According to the reading, ‘A Framework for Making Ethical Decisions’ it states
“The person using the Consequentialist Framework desires to produce the most good.” If

everyone follows the rule ‘Do No Harm’ then the most good would be produced.

The next rule to live by is to offer help to others in ways you know how. This rule is

important because it fosters a community in which one person helps another. It also removes the

stigma of race. For example, this rule would remove the idea that different ethnicities cannot

cooperate. This rule would aid in removing any racism as the rule would make people help each

other regardless of color, tongue, ethnicity and etc. The text references that an aspect of natural

duty is to have these duties come naturally, and therefore not need an act of consent. Typically,

helping others comes naturally and that would make it a natural duty and produce the most good

as the Consequentialist Framework says.

This next rule is similar to the last two rules which is to be respectful. This rule is

important because it is essentially the base of every other rule. In order to be a good person, the

idea is that one must be at least respectful to others at the very least. The text, Justice, directly

states that one must be respectful. It states “They [natural duties] include the duty to treat persons

with respect…” (Sandel 4). This rule can be connected to natural duties because it can be

considered that we (at minimum) need to show respect to everyone. In the Consequentialist

Framework it states “among the advantages of this ethical framework is that focusing on the

results of an action pragmatic approach”, which proves that being respectful to others deals with

our morals as humans.

The fourth and fifth rule relate to each other which are; be considerate of others and do

not be selfish. These rules obviously correspond with each other because they focus on others

and putting yourself aside for a while. In the Consequentialist Framework it states “some actions
that are expected to produce good consequences might actually end up harming people,” these

rules relate to this because a person sometimes has to sacrifice themselves for the better good . In

the Sinking Ship Scenario, it was necessary for the crew member to sacrifice themselves for the

better good and save the other people on the boat. If they would have been considerate of others

and not selfish they would have been following the Consequentialist Framework and their

natural duties of helping others.

The rule that has brought a lot of doubt is to not judge others but a better way to say this

is do not judge others until you know the facts. While it may seem just to never judge anyone,

sometimes it is ethical to do so because when they are violating a natural duty a person can

confront them and that is a form of judging . But it is important to know the acts before you

judge because judging by only rumors can cause conflicts as those rumors can be inaccurate. The

next rule relates to this, which is judge yourself and admit your wrongs. If we judge ourselves

right and admit when we are not being ethical then it will help us to react more correctly in our

natural duties when we see people being unjust . This will help in the process of judging others

as well as we practice this with ourselves.

“Be honest with yourself and others” is the next rule in which a person should follow so

they can become a good person. This rule is important because it fosters a society where people

no longer lie, but still remains true to the first rule which is to not do harm. Sometimes the truth

is just too much for a person to handle, and the truth would do less harm than telling the lie, for

leaving something out can cause more distrust and conflict. This rule connects to natural duties

because it, again, brings forth the idea that a good human being would not lie to another person.
 The last couple of rules are related to yourself as an individual which are to be humble

and to be forgiving to those who deserve it. These relate to natural duties because they do not

require consent and we owe it to OURSELVES to be humble and forgiving. Holding grudges

and greed do nothing to person but cause conflicts. Forgive people, not specifically because they

apologized and deserve it, but because you deserve that peace in your own life. These rules of

course relate to the Consequentialist Framework because it states that it focuses on future affects

and being humble and forgiving will lead to a better and more peaceful future for yourself. These

rules also relate to the Virtue Framework as it states “we try to identify the character traits that

might motivate us in given situations”. By having character traits of being humble and forgiving

it will give a better chance of being more ethical in certain situations and create justice.

Throughout the making of these rules I changed them up a couple of times from my first

attempt on rules that foster good people. The rules for the most part stayed the same but became

more specific. For example for my third rule I had first put to never judge and later changed it to

‘Don’t judge until you know the facts” because sometimes it is ethical to judge someone if they

are clearly violating ethics and natural duties such as committing a crime. Another example of a

rule I made more specific was my second rule which was to be helpful, I then changed it to “be

helpful in ways you know how” because sometimes it is better to not involve yourself in

situations and issues that you don’t understand because it will only cause more chaos and

confusion, it is good to be helpful but make sure you’re being efficient in doing so.

As mentioned before, many societies desire a place with peace and full of good people. If

everyone follows these rules then the world would have so many less conflicts, chaos and evil.

As humans we are still improving ourselves and morals as time goes by and of course there has
been a lot of change since the beginning of time but we must consider others and ourselves

ethically to foster a world at peace . As an individual myself , I can honestly say I try to improve

as a person as I grow and mature . These rules that I am determined to follow will help me create

a peace of mind of my own and overall make me happier because I know that good is being

released by me and into the world.

Works Cited

“Brown University.” ​A Framework for Making Ethical Decisions | Science and Technology

Studies​,

www.brown.edu/academics/science-and-technology-studies/framework-making-ethical-de

cisions.

Sandel, Michael J. “'Justice,' by Michael J. Sandel.” ​The New York Times​, The New York Times,

27 Nov. 2009, ​www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/books/excerpt-justice.html​.

“William Brown (Ship).” ​Wikipedia​, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Mar. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brown_(ship).