Rehan Abdallah

Carroll, Kelly, Wilczynski

American Literature

7 April 2019

10 Rules To Live By

Ethics are dealing with morals or principles of morality and it also relates to what

is considered right or wrong. Justice is the quality of being fair and equal. Ethics and

justice are related because ethics talks about doing the right thing and justice is all

about fairness and equality. Making the right choice means doing what’s fair for others.

The ethical framework that guides my 10 rules is the natural duty because it talks about

what we owe people as humans.

The first and second rules are “Do no harm” and “Treat others the way you want

to be treated.” Treating people with respect and not harming anyone is something you

do to be a good person. It states in “What’s the Right Thing to Do?” that “We owe them

to persons as rational beings.” This quote is saying that a natural duty includes

respecting people and not hurting them. You can hurt people physically or mentally, so

you should watch how you’re treating others and what you’re saying to them. These are

one of the most important rules for being a good person because they identify who you

are as a person and what good comes from you.

The third and fourth rules are “Don’t let others bring you down” and “Change for

the better, not worse.” These rules are telling you that even if people talk horribly to you

and let you down, keep your head up. Don’t try to change for people and if you do
change, change for the better. The way you act can affect others around you. If you

decide to be rude and treat people horribly, then you’re not only hurting yourself, but

you’re hurting the people around you. Part of being a good person is keeping your head

up and not let anyone get to you. These involve natural duties because you shouldn’t let

the negativity get to you and make you be someone you’re not. These rules can also be

a virtue framework because this framework makes you think of the actions that you take

and how they define you as a person.

The fifth rule is “Help Others.” This is a basic rule on how to be a good person.

You should always lend your hand to others if they need it. Why not help people when

you can? If people are having a difficult day, talk to them. You can find the easiest way

to help people even with the smallest things. Helping people can make you a good

person. This is natural duties because it’s your choice to help people and almost

everyone follows this rule.

The sixth, seventh, and eighth rules are “Be honest” “Think about others when

making a decision” and “Stand up for What’s Right.” Being honest means telling the

truth. Also, you should always stand up for what’s right because it’s the right thing to do.

You don’t want to act fake in front of people and say something that you didn’t mean

because you won’t be trusted anymore. You are responsible for the things that you do

and say. Sometimes, people stand up for what’s wrong even though they know that’s

not the right decision to make. Even though this is a natural duty, it can also be seen as

a consequential framework because you have to think about who you’re decisions will

affect and whether it’s positively or negatively. It states in “A Framework for Making
Ethical decisions” that “we focus on the future effects of the possible courses of action,

considering the people who will be directly or indirectly affected.” This involves the

ethical decision to stand up for what’s right. You can hurt other people when you’re

making a decision even if you don’t know it.

The ninth and tenth rules to live by are “Show Appreciation to others” and “Love

yourself.” You should always be thankful for the people that you have in your life and

appreciate them no matter what. Many people just want to feel appreciated by the

people they care about because it would make them feel important. When you show

appreciation to others, they will probably return the same affection towards you. But

before you appreciate others, you should also appreciate yourself. There is a quote that

said, “In order to become the best you can be, you need to understand yourself.” This

quote is saying that the more you know yourself, the better you can be and love

yourself. It’s very important to love yourself because you will always be with yourself.

This is a natural duty because you make a choice to love and appreciate yourself and

the people around you.

I developed my list by thinking of what people would want to do with their lives to

make it a better one. I also thought of the way I can be a good person and become

better and better with the help of those rules. I had to revise a few of my rules because

they contradicted each other and I also had to add onto some of the rules because they

weren’t very clear.

If I lived by these rules, my life would be so much better. I would be happier and

safer with my surroundings and the people around me. If everyone lived by these rules,
the world would be much safer because there would be no harm done. Also, everyone

would make the right choice and there would be respect everywhere. Happiness and

positivity would be spread in the world.