— What is the noblest profession and Why?
This is a tough one. I’m a United States Marine by proffession. A lot of the things I do a very noble, so says the President of The United States. But I do feel good about the work I do, even though I have no say behind the reasoning associated with war. So I can’t say being a U.S. Marine is the noblest proffession, because I am very biased.
The definition of Noble I found in dictionary.com was: Having or showing qualities of high moral character, such as courage, generosity, or honor: a noble spirit.
I say, any of the thousands of people that work for the Red Cross and all these other not for profit organizations that go into these third world countries and help out starving kids. My reason is simple. Have you ever seen those late night TV commercials with the little poor kids with flys on their eyeballs? The kid is so hungary that he can not muster enough energy to blink the fly away from his eyeball! The situation might get exagerated on TV for publicity, but it still exists. These people go out there and do good in the world. I’m not sure what the name of that low-paying job is. But whatever it is, it is the most noble proffession that exists in the world today!
Maybe we relegate a lot of bad immoral actions to our Government because we are too squemish or lazy to do them ourselves. I thought you said earlier that you were a Marine. I find nothing ignoble about being a Marine, even though i oppose the war in Iraq. I served 4 yrs in the United States Navy myself, but i never had to kill anybody. You guys get low pay in exchange for getting your asses shot off. You have my support.
Do you play chess a lot?
My vote for noblest profession is teacher.
Mine is for the industrialist (what a surprise 
)
The industrialist is the one who produces the weapons that the soldier uses.
The industrialist is the one who develops the medicines that the doctor uses.
The industrialist is the one who prints the books that the teacher uses.
Industry is what makes the world go 'round–that and duct tape.
I used to play a lot of chess, but these days have been so busy that I haven’t had enough time. I look at life exactly like I play a game of chess, so much that at school my Proffessor is starting to worry about me. In the last three papers I have submitted it had at least two references to the ancient game of strategy.
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Marshall,
I find what I do very noble. I was just assuming that by me saying that those who serve in the Military out of their free will as being noble, that I was being biased because I am such a person. (check my grammer, because I sure can’t)
As a child I loved the idea of knights in shining armor. The noble warrior who rescues women and fights for his God and Queen. In the modern world I would look ridicoulus riding around on a horse decked out like a medivieal knight. Living in New York I wanted to be in the NYPD, or in the Fire Department, but they required college education for the positions I wanted. I needed to do something that satisfied my thrill factor along with being honorable and I thought that the challenge of being a Marine was adequate. I haven’t killed anybody either, but I have been in crazy situations. I worked along side the Navy Corpsmen, British Royal Marines, the Australians, and our AirForce. And these kids are brave. I don’t deny it.
But as you know being that you were in the Navy, that a lot of these kids loose sight of why they have joined and honor they should give in wearing that uniform! Those that work because they want to, and not because they have to, are very honorable. The industrialist is in it for the profit. The industrialist also makes the weapons and biochemical materials that our enemies use.
now thinking about it, a teacher isn’t a bad choice. I have had bad experiences with teachers in the past. But the ideal teacher is very noble. They do so much for our society and yet get paid next to nothing. They truly love teaching and expanding the mind of their students. Teachers are good for the world.
[quote=“Smooth”]
The industrialist is in it for the profit.
[quote]
What motive is more honorable than that?
All profit is is an increase in what you value.
Smooth. I used to play chess a lot and take lessons, but after a while you look up and think, “i’m studying 3or4 hrs a day just to push around plastic pieces.” I actually know someone here in Roanoke who gives chess lessons, that is his sole profession, unbelievable given the small size of Roanoke.
It’s good that you were able to satisfy that thrill factor and that you researched what you wanted to do. At one point i got to work in close proximity to the Navy Seals, those guys are tough. You’re taking classes too?
Kurt Weber said:
An industrialist would be a surprise coming from anyone else. Why do you find them noble?
For two reasons–one, like I said, is that industry is what makes the world go 'round.
Second, an industrialist is willing to do whatever is necessary to promote what he values.
A truly dedicated teacher (sorta rare nowadays 
) is an extremely noble profession.
The ones that make it their “life” to teach strangers purely because they want to help and feel it’s right.
- The teacher that stays after school 1-3 hours everyday to tutor kids and provide aid for after-school functions.
- The teacher that will stay up late at night grading papers because their students are eagar to see how they did on that day’s exam or essay.
- The teacher drinking coffee at Barnes & Noble late Friday night as they formulate lesson plans or how to get though to that one “unteachable” kid.
- The teacher that makes a constructive impact in every student under their tutelage.
- The teacher that never gives up on any one person.
- The teacher that makes learning fun and interesting no matter the subject matter.
- The teacher that goes that extra mile.
The teacher that cares.
Welcome Alone to my cyber home! And yes that teacher is the one that makes all the difference.
Kurt Weber wrote:
Don’t get me wrong Kurt, I am all for profit. I believe in capitalism. But I also don’t really see the noble side of placing value on materilistic things. Getting richer isn’t honorable, it is what you do with your riches.
Welcome to the forum Alone. Education is very important. It represents one of the most significant investments in our future. Every teacher has an impact on fresh young minds. Children that will grow up to become Doctors, lawyers, soldiers, and industrialists. Teachers stand at the very base of our culture supporting the pillars of our society.
thinking about it, that extends to anybody who teaches in general. Good parents teach, mentors, role models, and people who you cross through your life but only once. They too. I want to extend it anybody who impacts in a positive way those around them. It isn’t a proffession, but it is a way of life.
Good point. Although teacher is my personal favorite, i think a good case could be made for firefighters, policemen, and public volunteers.
sigh …is no one going to say philosophy? So much for my profession 
Michel Foucault once helped with the penal codes of France. I will say that every philosopher is a teacher and that we did (thanks to Smooth) expand on the notion of teacher, so essentially we have already judged philosophers noble. Of course i think them noble, else why do i spend all of this time reading, studying their works, exegetical studies of their works, discussing them, etc.
So now that we have come to a sort of agreement that anybody that takes the time to help out society by giving there services and teaching that which they know to others is noble. Can somebody please explain to me how to get a bigger picture under my name. I’m sort of tired of my company’s logo already.
I’m preparing to undertake a degree in philosophy, in essence in a bid to answer this very question; I am a Marxist, a socialist, above all a humanist, and wish to do whatever I can to improve the lot of as many people as possible by the greatest degree possible. The conflict between micro- and macro-scopic change is a troubling one for me, and I don’t yet know where I’ll settle. Teaching is incredibly attractive (and no, I wouldn’t use it to indoctrinate children; I believe that a good education will result in the ability to empathise with people in different situations than oneself, and hence wish to aid the dispossessed.) I’m also considering Journalism and Law, both of which are - if pursued with integrity - concerned with discovering and publicising the truth.
The possibility of demolishing the class system intrgues me; but it is much more achievable (though perhaps no less difficult) to help one disadvantaged child to understand himself and love learning.
Smooth. You have to change the size of your picture ( i think it will take up to 80x80 pixels) or specify a new picture in your profile. I expanded my picture with the means of some kind of shareware.
Si. How much education is indoctrination? To what extent do we teach what to think instead of how to think?
Albert Camus rose from obscure origins in the realm of journalism. A lot of civil rights activists (including Mahatma Mohandis Ghandi) practiced law.
I like the term ‘humanist’. To me ‘secular humanist’ is a bit of a contradiction in terms. I buy the magazine ‘the humanist’. One thing that’s been chewing away at my brain recently after reading The Rebel by the aforementioned Camus. And that is, to spread love to the entire World may require a terrible means at some point. You can’t will it into a universal, cause if you did, as Nietzsche points out, one dude with a copy of Machiavelli’s Prince and a mean attitude would suffice to wipe you out. I don’t know. What do you think?
Demolishing the class system? Is it really advantageous to the human race to abolish all differences? Still, many suffer needlessly.
Children do seem to have their originality and creativeness sapped out of them by the educational process, but I do believe that that is avoidable given good teaching practice (whatever that may be.) The ideal is for children (who, so far as I know, learn hatred etc from the world rather than having it naturally) is that education allows them to avoid bigotry. After that, education is just making pretty superstructures on top of sound moral attitudes.
My off-the-top-of-my-head theory
An extremely difficult conundrum. However, just because everyone loves everyone else does not mean that there are not people who would be willing to cease loving -and fight against - someone who sought to demolish that (sub) universal love. The ideal, of course, would be to spread the money from the means of production around sufficiently to ensure everyone got a good enough education - and a good enough life, psychologically, materially and personally - to not have ‘mean attitude’. Idealistic perhaps, but I do believe that we need to have a goal - even if that goal is perhaps unachievable.
Demoloshing the class system does not imply the destruction of difference. Why should vocation be the measure of difference? Surely the Marxist ideal of a Utopia where all material needs are catered for collectively, allowing people to focus on intellectual, academic and spiritual questions is attractive?