Ethical and Moral Issues Presented in Henrik Term Paper

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ethical and moral issues presented in Henrik Ibsen's "Enemy of the People," from the ethical considerations surrounding the use of power to alter the truth to the moral considerations regarding the treatment of children due to crimes or perceived injustices committed by their parents. Perhaps, however, the most important issue is that of the disregard for human health in an effort to turn a profit, or to preserve wealth.

In "Enemy of the People," the townsfolk are prepared to do all they can to behave in a moral fashion by alerting the public to the health hazards presented by the corruption of the groundwater, which supplies the water to the Bath system, designed to promote health for the invalid and ill (Ibsen, 2000). At first, when Dr. Stockman alerts Aslaksen, Hovstad and Billing of the problems with the water supply, each has their own reasons for supporting Dr. Stockman's alert to the people. For Aslaksen, this reason involves his own reputation. For Billing, the reason is a revolution of the town against the government. For Hovstad, we find later, Petra appears to be the reasoning behind his decision.

However, once Peter Stockman alerts those individuals to the potential cost of the repair work Dr. Stockman believes is necessary, those same individuals turn, and begin to agree with Peter that the cost is too great (Ibsen, 2000).

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These individuals are more willing to sacrifice human life and health than they are to lose investment potential, or to lose profits from a potentially deadly bath. In this way, these individuals are comparing the human cost of life to the economic cost of repairs, and deeming the economic cost a greater one.

Morally, this concept is reprehensible. In moral terms, there can be no monetary value placed on any single human life, or on the health of the human population (Frey, 1987). The value of a life is not calculated in currency, but in an intangible way that incorporates the value system, belief system, mind, and soul of a life. By morality standards, a human life should be valued above all other things (Frey, 1987). Yet in this story as well as in real life, larger bodies of individuals, acting as a collective conscious, are able to hide immoral actions from themselves (Durkheim, 1947). They are able to make decisions that profit their own pocketbooks because of the autonomy offered in the mass majority. Rather than having to answer to their own conscious, they are able to follow their peers, while still believing….....

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