It All Starts with a Question ( A Philosophical Paper)
“Life is Beautiful” is a movie that shows how one can choose to continue living his life in the midst of pain. It is a story depicted from the experience of holocaust during the World War II in Europe where the Jews are prosecuted by the Germans and brought to concentration camps. But the details of the story are not the subject in this paper; instead, it is the essence of morality and peace in connection with the movie.
In this
paper, it is worthy to dissect what kind of moral tradition is shown in the
movie. As far as I analyze the situation, I see an example of societal moral
tradition in the story wherein the state of Italy sets a standard of what
constitutes a good society and that is to exterminate the Jewish people. With
this, I see conflict of morality because it basically disrespect and violates
the dignity of a human person. It is therefore worthy to ask these questions:
Is there any essence in having war? Where is one’s conscience in letting
innocent people suffer? Can anyone find peace and love in the midst of this
suffering? Does one’s own will power enough to do everything you want? Can love
be an enough reason to consider a good moral judgment?
Is there any
essence in having war? It’s difficult to grasp the idea of killing thousands or
millions of innocent people just to overpower another group or country because
it is against the morality of a human person. Every person deserves to have his
own freedom and nobody has the right to deprive such. Human consciousness aims
to search meaning of his existence and mutual recognition of his consciousness
also known as love. Where is love then in war when innocent people are caught
and burnt on fire? Where is then the conscience or dignity of people doing the
killing? Can these people still sleep in the midst of what they have done to
humanity? In the movie, living a life as German militaries is more likely not
peaceful than living a life as a prisoner mainly because they who did the act
of killing will never find peace in the very depth of his soul which is the
spirit. Conscience will tell them that wrong act will never be right. There are
lots of means to resolve conflict and killing is not even an option for such
means. Even if the argument of militaries would be their sense of obligation to
the state, still they have their own moral obligation which can give them idea
of what is truly right or wrong.
Can anyone
find peace and love in the midst of this suffering? A question which made us
realized the value of all things in life as part of our human consciousness. In
the movie, Guido the protagonist chooses to keep up his strength all for the
love of his son and wife. He did everything to keep the hope burning even in
the heart of their struggle. In the situation, the moral dimension of Guido
lies in the constant pressure of the situation they have at present and what he
still have to cope which is to save his family from the threat of death. The
experience that they have shows how tough the situation is, yet there is this
sense of ought-to-act within Guido’s point of view. This eagerness to continue
fighting is driven by one’s goal and for Guido; it is to make his wife and son
live like everything is normal. That is why in the story; Guido finds ways to
let his wife feel that they’re still together. With this, it is clearly shown
that love can still be found in the midst of such affliction. In fact it is a
driving force for one to continue living. Moreover, external peace in this
situation may not be felt yet I believe that internal peace within may be
possible because if you are more determined in what you are doing, peace within
the self may be achieved. But the question is will you even achieved what you
want if you are so determined? Does one’s own willpower enough to do everything
you want?
“I am what
I want to be”, a line quoted from Schopenhauer which was learned by Guido from
Ferruccio. The line means that if there is will power, you can do anything
which Guido use as an inspiration throughout its undertaking. We can connect
this line to a moral dimension of freedom wherein man decides according to the
dictates of his will. From the very start of the movie, it shows how Guido does
things to win Dora’s heart. Everything he wants, he usually gets because he is
self-determined. He has his own means of doing things regardless of the
limitations offered by the situation. However, one’s own will power is never
enough. Decisions can only be done within the boundaries of the situation and
the physical capabilities and conditions of a person. In the story, Guido has always been determined
to take risks wherein sometimes, he forgot to think about the consequence of
his means. In the end, we have seen the combination of freedom and action as
moral dimension wherein Guido risk everything to save his wife but sad to say
that he never succeed because he died. Though one’s will power is never enough,
the fact that you did everything to actualize your goal is evenly enough to
describe the morality of a person.
In the
movie, I realized that love is the determining point towards appreciating life
in behalf of all the tragedies that we encounter. It is our driving force to do
everything we can to achieve what ourselves want us to be. Guido as the main
character uses his charm to get Dora. He even takes lying as a means in making
Dora fall in love with him and in uplifting the spirit of his son. Above all
these, can this be considered morally good if the reason of lying is purely
love. Can love be an enough reason to consider a good moral judgment? Here lies
the two opposite nature; the act of love and the act of lie. Love is considered
to be one of those virtues that God taught us and lying on the other hand is
said to be one of those commanded by God which we need to avoid. According to
the Euthyphro’s dilemma “what is loved by God is holy and what is hate by God
is unholy”, I can consider what is holy is morally good and what is unholy is
morally bad if divine command theory is right. Therefore, in the above
situation lying per se is considered morally bad and love is morally good.
Going back to the situation wherein Guido lied because of love, what then could
be the right judgment? For me, the good moral judgment lies in the dignity of a
person. If Guido lied because of love then for me, it is morally right because
the very reason is considered to be morally good which love is. Otherwise, if
Guido lied because he just wants to lie, then it’s morally wrong. The main
motive of a person therefore speaks the core of his spirit which give him two
choices- yes or no to the norm of morality or to his own worth and dignity.
References:
Articles:
Preliminary Notions, Description of Moral Dimension and Euthyphro
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