To label one as "good" or "evil," we first have to decipher for ourselves what the difference between the two. In all honesty, it just depends on the background you came from and the morals that you were raised on. While reading the comic strip assigned to us, I was greatly moved and appreciative of the artist portrayed the female hero as a strong and independent figure, rather than a weak, fawning figure waiting to be swept off of her feet. And even so, not even the male figures have to be shown as a strapping young man ready to carry the world on his back, when in reality any one can have a source of heroism inside of them. My favorite part was the very end, where he simply stated that within all good, there is evil, and within every evil, there is good. It is not our job to pick one or the other, but rather to preserve the balance between the two, because of the immensity of the both of them in this world.
In “How do you solve a problem like Fritz Haber?” they are very biased on the actions of Fitz Haber. It all depends on their own views and morals. They don't see his accomplishments as something of his own, rather something that they're allowed to see and judge according to them. I believe that there is a mixture of good and evil inside of us all, and it is up to us whether we pull more to one side than the other. There is no one person who doesn't have a little bit of one without the other. But in all, it creates each person specifically. I believe this podcast spoke to the pathos of each of us and allowed us to either agree with the ones judging him, or cause us to sympathize for him. Either way, there's no way around it.
I agree with you on your view on the comic book segment. The fact that one does have a bit of good and evil inside is very true its the effort put in to balance the two is what makes the difference. Now, taking an ethical standpoint on Haber's work I think he started of good with good intentions but his success went to his head and he leaned towards the side of evil. Trying to help win a war for his country is one thing but, to leave his son after his mother takes her own life due to Haber's own employment of his scientific breakthroughs is completely wrong. His hunger for success drove him to ignore the consequences on his own family. He failed to balance those pieces of good and evil inside and then became evil.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of Good vs. Evil is always a controversial one. There are only two sides: good or evil and people take either side without acknowledging the other. I believe that people are always evil or always good, there are specific actions and circumstances that lead a person to be either good or evil. In the podcast, “How do you solve a problem like Fritz Haber?” we were told a story of a German Scientist who solved the problem of starvation in his country. He did this by using Nitrogen to feed the twenty million hungry Germans. For this action he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1918. Even though he was considered a heroic figure for his country, the US government called him a wartime criminal. This was due to the fact that Haber used the same Nitrogen that fed his country to kill many innocent civilians and soldiers. Now for the rest of the country Haber once good had now turned evil. This transformation had been done because of the actions that Haber took because of the circumstances surrounding him. He was not ready to kill naturally but because that was the action that would lead his country to victory. For him this made sense but if you weren’t German, then Haber was an evil criminal. Similarly this concept of good and evil is portrayed in the comic strip, “The Flawed Concept of Good vs. Evil” by Hayao Miyazaki and Ashley Allis. Miyazaki and Allis state that you should “see the good in that which is evil and the evil in that which is good.” I completely agree with this statement because something that is right for someone may be wrong for someone else and vice versa. There will never be a complete agreement about what actions are good and evil. An individual decides for him/her respectively but at the same time should make sure that their actions do not hurt someone.
ReplyDeleteOk so first off I completely love the comic we had to read"The Flawed Concept of "Good Vs. Evil." I love Hayao Miyazaki’s work and when I saw that this comic used Princess Mononoke I was excited. Most of his work is like that it isn’t an obvious strong evil, such as a dragon, that the main character is fighting and in all of his movies there isn’t a male character that comes to save the weak girl. It is like they are equal and stronger when they are together. Ok so back to the actual assignment. His explanation that “Evil is not something that can be conquered or defeated. Evil is natural. It is innate in all humans” and his showing of this in that movie is a powerful message. A demon touches Ashitaka, the main guy character, and power (evil) is now in his body. If he lets anger, hate, or any negative emotion that “evil” will spread, consume him, and will become a demon himself. He tries to see the world and the cause of the boar god’s hate with “eyes unclouded by hate.” He left his village to find out why the boar god became a demon. I also agree that it cannot be defeated that there is good in evil. Humans are a mix of both; no one can be inherently good or inherently evil. Lucifer wasn’t always evil he was inherently good until something happened. That mix of good and evil I what makes us human and is the constant struggle that we have everyday.
ReplyDeleteSo Fritz Haber, The ethical point of view was that he had a huge dream and what he wanted to do was just too grand for one man especially he got so caught up in his work that he didn’t realize what it did to him. (this was the beginning of the corruption) He wanted so much good, but he got his hand on something that was morally wrong to do. He got his hand on this power that completely took over. This has happened to many people over the course of time. It was his greed that caused it. That is why greed is known as one of the deadly sins. After it was all over he lost himself and couldn’t find any good, he had lost everything. He is an example of not balancing good and evil.
I agree with you. No one can be one hundred percent good or evil. We can only be a combination of both. Good cannot exist without evil and vice versa. Hayao Miyazaki displays this idea in “The Flawed Concept of Good vs. Evil” when he gives his description of the life of a true hero. He states that “evil is not something that can be conquered or defeated…it is innate in all humans. You must learn to see good in that which is evil, and see the evil in that which is good.” Anyone who is good has some evil inside of them, and anyone who is evil has some good inside of them. This is the reason why it was difficult for the podcasters from “How do you solve a problem like Fritz Haber?” to agree on whether or not Fritz Haber was completely evil. He used the discovery that he made to help the Germans kill a large number of French and British soldiers during World War I. His discovery also led to the invention of Zyklon B, the gas that was used to kill Jews in concentration camps during World War II. This gas destroyed a huge number of lives, including the lives of members of Haber’s family. Although Haber’s discovery ended many lives, it also saved just as many, if not, more. His discovery led to a more efficient way of growing food. This ended the major threat of starvation that Germany was facing at the time. Haber’s actions created both good and bad outcomes.
ReplyDelete