It Is Obvious That Morality Is Relative
"It is obvious that morality is relative" . Critically asses this claim
Religious Education
23/04/2012
Views on Morality are varied and changed throughout different cultures and societies. Morality in the definition of the word, is the natural sense of right and wrong. This sense is usually gained from the surroundings on a person as a young child or from influences in a person 's life. The statement that Morality is relative can be looked at in many different ways. Morality to be seen in a relative manner is objective as, in the whole, the views on the world are twisted to every individuals independent views on it. This is what this statement explains and implies but there is a main argument that supports and a main one that is against the views one morality being relative. This view of morality is called relative morality whereas the opposing argument is absolute morality where this believes that what the god 's believe to be moral is moral and what isn 't moral, isn 't.
The first part of the argument is natural law. Natural law is "not simply about what nature does. Rather it is based on nature as interpreted by human reason". It does not present a "fixed" outcome or passage to reach the goal and can be moved and flexed by the interpretations of humans. The modern idea of natural law was created by st. Thomas of Aquinas. He synthesized both Aristotle 's views on natural law and the stoics view on natural law. Thomas argued that good was the right reason in accordance to nature and that rule is created for the common good. This all ties back to morality through the actions of the natural law. For example, a problem with natural law is that it states we can decide what is right and wrong, this can be taken to the extreme with people truly believing that taking another innocent is life is morally and ethically right, whereas others may not agree with this, natural law states that one may decide between right and wrong. This is one of the main arguments
Religious Education
23/04/2012
Views on Morality are varied and changed throughout different cultures and societies. Morality in the definition of the word, is the natural sense of right and wrong. This sense is usually gained from the surroundings on a person as a young child or from influences in a person 's life. The statement that Morality is relative can be looked at in many different ways. Morality to be seen in a relative manner is objective as, in the whole, the views on the world are twisted to every individuals independent views on it. This is what this statement explains and implies but there is a main argument that supports and a main one that is against the views one morality being relative. This view of morality is called relative morality whereas the opposing argument is absolute morality where this believes that what the god 's believe to be moral is moral and what isn 't moral, isn 't.
The first part of the argument is natural law. Natural law is "not simply about what nature does. Rather it is based on nature as interpreted by human reason". It does not present a "fixed" outcome or passage to reach the goal and can be moved and flexed by the interpretations of humans. The modern idea of natural law was created by st. Thomas of Aquinas. He synthesized both Aristotle 's views on natural law and the stoics view on natural law. Thomas argued that good was the right reason in accordance to nature and that rule is created for the common good. This all ties back to morality through the actions of the natural law. For example, a problem with natural law is that it states we can decide what is right and wrong, this can be taken to the extreme with people truly believing that taking another innocent is life is morally and ethically right, whereas others may not agree with this, natural law states that one may decide between right and wrong. This is one of the main arguments
Bibliography: * Thompson, Mel, "Ethical Arguments", An introduction to Philosophy and Ethics (Hodder Education, 2003, 2008) * "Approaches to Ethics", On the Threshold: Religious Education Programme for Secondary Schools in Aotearoa New Zealand (Wellington: National Centre for Religious Studies, 2010)