Sofía Polanco Ramírez, Group 54, A01026099

Pensamiento Filosófico PH6

Prof. Montserrat Fernández de Bergia

Instrucciones: Escribir en este template su ensayo, recordar que a) las Key Words del
Glosario con su definición y cita APA van en color azul; b) la tesis se subraya y se coloca en
color morado; c) el ejemplo se coloca en color verde; d) en el encabezado deberás colocar
tu nombre, salón y matrícula.

Are human connections the key to moral redemption?

Key Words:
a) Morality: “We may now state the minimum conception: Morality is, at the very least,
the effort to guide one’s conduct by reason—that is, to do what there are the best
reasons for doing—while giving equal weight to the interests of each individual
affected by one’s decision.” (Rachels, 1969, p. 13)
b) Moral Dilemma: “When someone is torn between two kinds of morality: one of
limited scope but certain efficacy, and the other of much wider scope but uncertain
efficacy” (Satre, J., 1957).
c) Moral Knowledge: “If someone has moral knowledge, then this person makes a
moral judgment the content of which is a true proposition. It appears, then, that the
premise presupposes that the moral judgment in such cases is a moral belief rather
than a desire or an emotion or something else that cannot be true.” (Richmond,
2019)

Ethical ambiguity has been something the human civilization has gotten used to lately, it
seems like everything we do is bad in one way or another. Being vegan while giant
corporations produce more carbon emissions than the rest of the world can let one be on a
moral high horse for a while, despite all of these small actions we do daily things seem to get
worse as time passes. Moral dilemmas are everywhere and the simplest solution to
modern-day moral lousiness is to cherish your bonds with other people. Humans are
dependent beings that have the moral duty of taking care of others, this idea makes
relationships the core of morality and the key to moral redemption. To prove my thesis I will
use No Exit, a philosophical play written by Jean-Paul Sartre, and The Good Place, a
situational comedy created by Michael Schur and broadcasted on NBC as resources to
compliment my arguments.
A not stable moral compass seems to fluctuate without any warning because
someone’s feelings are dependent on their shared experiences with other people. No Exit
highlights how Garcin, Inez, and Estelle interact with each other from the very start. When
the three strangers meet they all agree that they should be somewhere else with their dead
loved ones, but decide to be friendly for the sake of their stay. Inez quickly finds out that their
presence is necessary to psychologically torture each other, while this happens the three
strangers are still denying their deaths and their poor behavior during their time on earth.
Their flaws quickly get the worst of them, and even though the pressure to confess their bad
Sofía Polanco Ramírez, Group 54, A01026099

deeds is present they seem to be more focused on doing it to bring down each other rather
than to preserve the little peace they had.
During the first season of The Good Place, Eleanor, Chidi, Jason, and Tahani each
confess what they have done after taking Chidi’s ethics classes. Even though the classes
were meant to make Eleanor and Jason deserving of their stay in The Good Place, Chidi
and Tahani had shared experiences with the group that made all of them willing to sacrifice
their stay in The Good Place for each other. That trust is what makes Eleanor find out that
she was part of an experiment where torture lied on the groups of people they put The Bad
Place’s prospects in. Just like in No Exit, they were meant to be together for the sole
purpose of spiting each other; What makes this example more enthusiastic than its
existentialist counterpart is Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason’s newfound connection and
their desire to be better because of it.
Furthermore, human connections not only can transform people into more grounded
and altruistic beings, taking care of others can reinvent someone’s morality and individuality
for the better. The events that take place in No Exit hint that Garcin, Estelle, and Inez lose
the little morality they have left progressively. This shows when Garcin breaks his kiss with
Estelle and confesses to being a coward for running away instead of dying while peacefully
protesting. He is desperate to have her opinion but she’s too immersed in her thoughts to
listen, Inez insults Estelle out of the anger she has from seeing both of them kiss after
knowing she won’t be able to kiss her. After tempting each other for a while, Estelle tries to
stab Inez without realizing they’re dead and stuck together forever. The three individuals had
a constant fear of being judged by the other, making every interaction between them a way
of living in each other’s shadow, feeling enabled to humiliate their peers just to keep that
sense of moral superiority. This is why Jean-Paul Sartre says “Hell is other people”.
Humans feel obligated to take care of the other and being deeply judged by someone
that isn’t us is a punishment similar to the human perception of hell. Judgments make us
rethink our deepest persona and our morale, which can be beneficial at times. Eleanor,
Tahani, Jason, and Chidi from The Good Place built a beautiful friendship based on
collaboration and self-improvement; This bond lets them keep their essences while
questioning their moralities and working on all of those things that made them end up in The
Bad Place. Taking care of someone else involves collaborating, and true collaboration lies in
embracing the strengths one has and let the others balance the rest of the areas one can’t
do. The mere concept of collaboration involves preserving our individuality and having the
chance to improve it with our morality whenever we learn something new. Once Jason,
Chidi, Tahani, and Eleanor realize this their performance as a team skyrockets, making their
relationship vital to send other people to The Good Place. They not only become nice people
by themselves, but they also become nice people together and boost others in a similar
situation to do the same thing.
Moral dilemmas are difficult to tackle in a society that is more impatient with every
day that passes. Just like everything in life, we never end up doing something completely by
ourselves, and expanding our moral knowledge is no exception. That’s why we should
rekindle that sense of collectiveness and consciously improve ourselves daily while knowing
that it wouldn’t be possible without the help of countless people around us. Nurturing our
interpersonal connections will prepare us to solve ethical and moral problems this world will
encounter soon with an evolved point of view, meanwhile, we should use them to enhance
our individualities and empower our community.
Sofía Polanco Ramírez, Group 54, A01026099

References:

Glossary:

1. Campbell, R. (2019, November 06). Moral epistemology. Retrieved March 22, 2021,
from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-epistemology/#OntMorFacMorNat
2. Rachels, J. (1969). The Elements of Moral Philosophy. Retrieved from:
https://www.rcboe.org/cms/lib/GA01903614/Centricity/Domain/2820/The_Elements_o
f_Moral_Philosophy.pdf
3. Sartre, J. (2007). No exit and three other plays. Nashville, Tennesee: Vanderbilt
University.

Essay:

1. Gheaus, A. (2018, September 04). Personal relationship goods. Retrieved January

31, 2021, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/personal-relationship-goods/#Aca
2. (2018). Love, friendship, beauty, and the good: Plato, Aristotle, and the later tradition
(Vol. 26, Veritas). Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books.
3. Sartre, J. (2007). No exit and three other plays. Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt
University.
4. Schur, M. (Writer). (2016, September 19). The Good Place [Television series]. Los
Angeles, California: NBC.