[5] Ethical (Moral) Relativism and Objectivism

• For a being to have a moral nature it must be capable of rationality
• Rationality - The ability to think and reason is lacking in non-human animals
• ETHICAL RELATIVISM - The idea that ethical judgements are relative to the culture and time in which they are made
• ETHICAL RELATIVISM

  • The rightness (or wrongness) of an act lies on the social/ cultural norms of the people or on the individual's personal beliefs/commitments.
• ETHICAL RELATIVISM:

  • All moral principles are valid relative to a particular society or individual
• The idea that simply states that what may be right for one may be wrong for another.

  ETHICAL RELATIVISM
• Ethical Relativism vs Ethical skepticism

  • Ethical relativism - acknowledging that people or cultures might have different views on what's right or wrong.
  • Ethical skepticism- being skeptical or uncertain about the idea of there being any ultimate or objective moral truths.
• Ethical Skepticism - There are no valid moral principles at all (or at least we cannot know whether there are any)
• Two types of Ethical Relativisim:

  Individual and Cultural
• INDIVIDUAL ETHICAL RELATIVISM - also known as Ethical subjectivism
• INDIVIDUAL ETHICAL RELATIVISM - The rightness or wrongness of an action lies on the individual’s own commitments
• Between Individual and Cultural Ethical Relativism, which is more preferred?

  Cultural Ethical Relativism
• Individual cultural relativism is less preferred because it allows distorted beliefs due to the reliance of what is right or wrong ONLY to one person.
• CULTURAL ETHICAL RELATIVISM - also known as Ethical conventionalism
• Cultural Ethical Relativism - more preferred by philosophers since it creates a more sound perspective which were honed through generations or time
• Cultural Ethical Relativism - The rightness or wrongness of an action lies on the shared culture
• Cultural Ethical Relativism -There is a collective or shared thinking about what is right or wrong
• DIVERSITY ARGUMENT - Morality varies from culture to culture
• DEPENDENCY ARGUMENT - Our environment, history, and culture shapes our morality.
• DEPENDENCY ARGUMENT - Morality varies from one environment to another
• Suggests that we do not have a common reference as to what is right and wrong

  DEPENDENCY ARGUMENT
• TOLERANCE ARGUMENT - states that because of such differences, it is hard to live in harmony
• TOLERANCE ARGUMENT - Each culture has their own reasons for their practices, and we have to accept such differences.
• Argument that states that there is no one basis for what is right or wrong

  TOLERANCE ARGUMENT
• Critics of relativism question the logic of arguing that since people have moral beliefs and practices, we can conclude that morality is relative.
• The problem in ethical relativism is the line of reasoning is that even if the premise is true the conclusion does NOT logically follow.
• (T/F) The fact of diversity of and disagreement in moral beliefs does not prove that morality is relative.


  T
• ETHICAL OBJECTIVISM - Morality does not depend on what a particular person or a particular group of people thinks or believes is right or wrong; it lies on objective standards or principles that apply to all people.
• Moral Absolutism - Wherein the basis of right or wrong depends on one superior group.
• States that: Act A is always wrong, and Act B is always right.

  Moral Absolutism
• ETHICAL SITUATIONALISM - Objective moral principles are to be applied differently in different contexts.
• ETHICAL SITUATIONALISM - Goes together with ethical objectivism and against ethical absolutism
• ETHICAL SITUATIONALISM - States that there are axiomatic oughts and contingents oughts
• axiomatic oughts - objective moral principles not dependent on culture or religions