Excuses Essay, Research Paper
While I was sitting here thinking about this paper, many thoughts
went through my mind or many excuses not to do this paper.
Thoughts like, I’m tiered I just want to go to sleep, I’ll just
not go to class tomorrow and thoughts like trying to lie my way
out of it, knowing that I shouldn’t even be thinking that way.
This example of the way I was thinking is not a substantial
excuse. A excuse is the concept that under certain circumstances,
people can be excused from certain actions. Do I agree with it?
Yes I do. I believe there is a lot of unforeseen circumstances in
this world.
In today’s day and time we make up a lot of excuses. Me
sitting here making up reasons not to do this paper, probably
goes through a lot of students heads everyday. I also feel that
something that is controlled, like setting down time to study for
a test or to read a chapter of homework to get ahead, then not
doing it because you don’t feel like it, does not make up a
substantial excuse.
There are four different reasons why we excuse some actions
in everyday life. Excusable ignorance of consequences,
Constraints, uncontrollable circumstances, and lack of
alternatives.
Excusable ignorance of consequences is all about unfavorable
consequences or that the person couldn’t reasonably have known
how to prevent the consequences. For example, today when you buy
prescription drugs there are labels on the bottle telling you
what not to do while you are taking these drugs. For example the
great, don’t operate heavy machinery or to the odds ones,
prolonged exposure to sunlight might cause drowsiness. Back 20-
30 years ago doctors probably didn’t know what side effects drugs
had on you so therefore they shouldn’t be held responsible.
Not knowing how to prevent bad consequences we foresee may
also excuse a person from a certain action. For example, if your
standing on line at a movie theater and the person next to you
goes into cardiac arrest and you don’t know what to do, you cant
be held accountable for what happens to that person.
When something comes down to a situation that you cant
control it is called a Constraint. A constraint may be either
external or internal. External constraint refers to outside
factors.
forced to hand over his or here’s money. This is a action against
will. Of course the bank teller did not want to give up the
money, but he or she had not choice.
Internal constraint comes from inside rather than from
someone else. Craving, impulses, desire, urges are all examples
of internal constraints. Somebody that has a disorder like a
kleptomaniac really cannot be held responsible for shoplifting.
But yet we would blame a robber who carefully orchestrated the
robbery of a bank while feeling no inner compulsion to carry out
the plan. Similarly, we would blame a patients who throw
destructive and disruptive temper tantrums while fully in control
of their actions.
Uncontrollable circumstances are basically self expiatory.
When, in our estimation, the circumstances of an act are beyond
the person’s control, we generally excuse the behavior. There are
many circumstantial excuses that we readily accept as right.
Illness, accidents, and unexpected duties are typical cases. For
example you cannot blame a employee for being late due to traffic
from a car accident. He or she couldn’t control the traffic so
there is no way he or she could be blamed.
Ordinarily, we excuse actions when we think that people lack
either the ability or the opportunity to do the right act. if a
man can’t swim, we wouldn’t blame him or her for not jumping into
the pool to save a drowning child. Although we might blame him
for not getting help or throwing something in for the child.
Similarly, if the man could swim but failed to save the child
because he saw her only when it was too late, he lacked the
opportunity to save the child. Therefore we cannot hold him
responsible.
Excusably is something that has a very thin line between
right and wrong. I do believe that there are many cases in life
that you do not hold responsibility for. Those are just mere
examples of situations that happen in everyday life, that you
have no control of. I feel a lot of people these days use excuses
way to much in life. I will admit that excuses are very easy to
come by in everyday life but the strong willed will prevail. I
feel I am a very strong person mentally. if I wasn’t I wouldn’t
be here writing this paper.