Moral dilemmas in the short story “In the Penal Colony” by Franz Kafk a
Keywords:
Franz Kafka, humanitaryzm, technika, zaangażowanie, „odangażowanie”Abstract
Thesis. Ethics as a philosophical refl ection on the duties of a human sets certain
limitations on the human conduct. However, what the conduct is like, but rather what it should be like. Morality is a set of rules defi ning what is right and what is wrong.
These principles are individual in relation to every being, which is why ethical confl
icts should not be resolved. In addition, ethical relativism states that ethical values
and moral judgments are relative. Based on the aforementioned thesis, the author of
the article att empts to present the impossibility of assessing moral dilemmas in the
short story “In the Penal Colony” by Franz Kafk a.
Discussed concepts. Erving Goff man’s concept of involvement and alienation in
a conversation involves the duties of an interlocutor and the consequences of misconducting
a conversation. Lack of involvement in interaction, which results in abstaining
from action in spite of disagreement with the opinion presented by the interlocutor,
can be treated as an att itude characterized by the “division of the self.” This phenomenon
is displayed in the theory of morality of Michael Walzer who compares moral
minimalism with moral maximalism and proves that minimalism is a critical perspective
essential to the assessment of moral maximalism.
Results and conclusions. Because of undecidability of ethical dilemmas caused
by their relativity and cultural as well as historical diversity, the author of the article
states that one cannot clearly assess the att itudes of the characters in the short story
by F. Kafk a.
Cognitive originality/value of the approach. The article draws att ention to the
possibility of multiple interpretations of the att itudes of the characters in the short
story by F. Kafk a. It also emphasizes the role of ethical and moral concepts which justify
the choice of action in a given situation.
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References
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