PHILOSOPHY IN CULTURE Natural Law !

The Bloodhound Gang satirically exhibits principles of natural law in their popular

song The Bad Touch. Like John Donnes The Flea, The Bad Touch is an attempt to get a woman in bed using a simple biological argument. The chorus says it all, !
! You and Me baby aint nothin but mammals So lets do it like they do on the Discovery Channel.

The lead singer Jimmy would like to have sex with this woman (whom, it is assumed, he just recently met) based on the fact that it is natural that mammals - which they are often have sex, with various partners and often without strong emotional value. Jimmy claims that simply because he is naturally feeling it and that they are both naturally mammals, it would be ethical for them to make love without rst building a relationship.

Egoism ! It becomes clear as the tv show Community proceeds that Jeff Winger is an

egoist - he along with his friends actually explicitly notice and discuss this in the third season. Half of Jeffs time is spent thinking about and doing things that solely benet himself, such as texting vigorously instead of engaging people properly. When Jeff does help out his friends - which he does often, and in a big way - he is doing so not even for the pleasure that is received from doing good, but rather because helping them directly or indirectly helps/advances him. The show takes comical spins off Jeffs egoistic mentality, one with him having a grand epiphany (in the third season) of how he never does things solely for the sake of others and therefore doesnt know what it feels like.
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Although receiving pleasure from doing things for others can be considered egoistic as well, Jeff does not even do that. From an egoistic viewpoint however, Jeff is ethical.

Hedonism ! One Time 4 Your Mind is a rap song by Nas, the crux of which is about

maximizing happiness and seeking pleasure in life. Long-run valuable happiness is not considered in the song, instead Nas raps about the short-run immediate pleasures, and does not take long-term consequences into consideration. He raps of things such as sex, weed, alcohol, money, and relaxing (to name a few); things which keep someone living in the projects sane. Nas explains how in the projects a black cloud hovers over ones head and disables them from looking to tomorrow - so thats why they suck the life out of today (and this is seen as ethical to him and other project dwellers). In hedonistic view, Nas would be considered ethical.

Utilitarianism ! A thrilling scene from the dark night involves Batmans lady friend as well as

Harvey Dent locked in two separate warehouses full of timed explosives. There is only enough time for one of the two to be saved. Although Batman has strong emotional feelings for the girl - whom he formerly had a romantic relationship with - he swiftly decides to save Mr. Dent. Such an act shocked me (and I presume the audience as well) because Batman had been critical of Dent throughout the lm. However, it is clear that the superhero made a sharp utilitarian decision. Harvey Dent was Gothems hope; something the city and its people were substantially lacking. As oppose to the girl, Dent

was a just man in an inuential position who had plans to clean up the city of crime and violence - in effect positively inuencing many peoples lives and having more potential to do so. Although Dent later turned into Two-Face, making many people unhappy, it was likely that Batmans actions were going to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

The Categorical Imperative ! Robin Hood steals from the rich to give to the poor (it is undisclosed whether

there are more poor than rich). He feels he ought to do this regardless of consequences, such as the poor becoming lazy, others following his example, and his judicial penalty. He does not seek fame or riches; he is simply acting on his personal sense of what is ethically right; that the hard-working poor deserve to have their fair share. ! On the other hand, although he treats the poor as ends, Hood solely treats the

rich as means. And if stealing from those richer became a universal law, chaos would ensue. Therefore, according to Immanuel Kant, Robin Hood would be deemed unethical.

Machiavellianism ! By deceiving people as a kind aid, the wealthy air vendor in The Lorax (2012

movie) demonstrates Machiavellianism. To remain in power - as a wealthy businessman who owns most of the town - the air vendor wins over the hearts of the people as an amiable gure (seeming as if he is doing the right thing for their happiness). In actuality,

he is a gluttonous villain who needs the people to continue to purchase his air, and not to discover and plant trees (which would take away his power). The vendor is fraudulent and is holding the town back from a natural necessity. Although there are obviously other ways to acquire and maintain power, this is much easier for him - yet it comes at the cost of morality. In the eyes of Machiavelli though, the vendors actions would be considered ethical.