Paper Example on Colonel Bradford's Family Safety Priority During Plague

Plague has consumed a reasonable number of individuals in the community and everyone in the society including the leaders have become cautious in taking all the reasonable steps in ensuring that their families are safe. Colonel Bradford has experienced a lot during the period of the plague and has began to consider other reasonable moves that could affirms his family safety. At this time, all that matters to the Colonel Bradford is ensuring that his family is safe as opposed to maintaining the safety of the entire community. Bradford asserts that, "I am merely doing what any man of means and sense must do: safeguarding what is mine" (Brooks, 2001). The division in the community is making it difficult for the leaders and even the individual members to act in suspicions for the safety of their welfare.

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According to Bradford, it is important to consider the safety of what a person possesses first before involvement in provision of community safety. In consideration of the facets involved in the act consequentialism, the decisions being considered and made by Bradford are important and relevant in maintaining the good of his family. The plague has become part of the lives of the community and everyone is fighting for the individual survival before engaging in the livelihood of other people. Therefore, the best action at the time as seen by Bradford affirms the relevance in consideration of the present situation of the community. Thus, to promote and maintain the good in the community, it is only logical for individual participation in protecting personal lives.

According to Kant’s morality is measured in treating individual as ends and not merely as means. In that, the actions or events that are associated or engaging between individuals should be considered for generation of the better good. The productiveness of an individual should be perceived in their contribution in the end of the agenda and not their means of contributing. The decisions being made by Bradford are mainly associated with provision of care to the immediate family that he owns. Therefore, he does not go against the ethics of Kant in trying to avoid the effects of the plague on his family. The family comes first for Kant before providing care for the entire community. The worthiness in Bradford has been portrayed in his need to providing care and health security to the family before concentrating on the larger community. However, even though Kant has made a wise choice for the family, it is difficult for the community to understand the relevance of the decision, through the viewpoint in the larger lens.

According to Ross (n.d), prima facie duty is a responsibility that is obligatory binding other things equal, that is, unless it is overridden or trumped by another duty. Ross addresses the existence of seven prima facie that can be used effectively in the analysis of characters in the Years of Wonder. For instance, Bradford has been represented as beneficence in the community. In that, the role played by the colonel in the community is appreciated in the society such that, the idea of leaving the community is impactful to most people. However, his strong connotation and connection with the family remains relevant in the community. Besides, the facets of prima facie require the colonel to uphold his role and duty to the community and not to abandon the society.

Conclusion

Virtue ethics is the act of behaving in a morally upright manner. Virtue ethics and the theory of moral ethics is important in explaining certain complexities that could arise between individuals or characters in a story. Colonel Bradford has been portrayed as an individual with high degree of the virtue of love for his family. The welfare of the community is important to the colonel in the midst of the plague and working towards protecting their relevance remains important.

References

Brook, G. (2001). Years of Wonder.

Kant (n.d). Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: Transition from common rational to philosophic moral cognition.

Ross, W. D. (n.d). What makes Right Acts Right.