How Frederick Douglass Treat People

Words: 961
Pages: 4

Jay Grimes
Ethics
3/23/2017
The Way We Treat People The book “Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass”, is about the hardships and reality of what slavery really was and what it really is as we know it today. Douglass goes on to say that slavery is soul-killing and dehumanizing to everyone, including owners and overseers as well. Slave owners treat their slaves as only a means, rather than what Douglass says people should be treated as, which is as ends. Treating people as ends and not means, is really thinking and considering a person’s soul and understanding that they are people too. No matter who you are and no matter what you do, we all deserve to be treated the same and treated with the respect and love that we all need. Being treated as an end, is an intrinsic value, while being treated as means, is an extrinsic value.
Human beings have a moral duty to treat themselves and others as ends rather than only as means even when we have economic, legal, or religious duties not to do so. Everyone should respect not only their own, but other people’s inherent worth. Everyone deserves to be loved, treated fairly, and fully respected, rather than used for some outcome or purpose. Using people in order to achieve some greater outcome defines
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as only means, was the fight between Covey and Douglass. At the end of that fight, both participants, Covey and Douglass, seemed to gain a vision on a new world and new outlook on people. Douglass gained his spirit and resolve to be free from slavery. Covey then goes on after that day, to never whipping Douglass again. I believe Covey gained a new insight on slavery and noticing that treating the slaves as only a means was wrong. Also, another example I would say, would be when Douglass got some of his fellow slaves interested in reading. So, Douglass held a Sabbath School and taught slaves how to read and gain reading