July 2‚ 2010 Ethics Reaction Paper 1 Relativism and Universalism The battle between relativism and universalism ideologies has been going on for several years now. There have been many highly respected people agreeing and disagreeing on which belief is right and wrong. The two well known are American Anthropologist Ruth Benedict and Dr. Louis Pojman. Upon reading their work‚ I found both of them to have very excellent points. I found myself hard to just pick one ideology. After
Premium Culture Middle East North Africa
Whitehead) The question of morality is one which begs a hundred questions. How can one judge what is moral and what is not? Who decides where the line is drawn? What standing ground does one have when question the morals of another? Where is the benchmark? This essay shall examine the statement aforementioned‚ firstly by engaging with cultural relativism‚ then critically discuss cultural relativism and lastly examine the implications for educational practices in South Africa. With regards to the
Premium
We frequently make moral judgments about the actions of others. We proclaim that things like removing a wallet from someone else’s pocketbook on a crowded train; flying airplanes into the Twin Towers; and intervening (or not) in the Syrian war are wrong. According to Gilbert Harman‚ such judgments about people’s actions are defective because they lack relativity to the individual’s moral framework. (Harman‚ 1975) In ‘Some Moral Minima’ Goodman argues that “there are certain things that are simply
Premium Truth Belief Morality
Relativism and Absolution In order to promote harmony Morality dictates our actions‚ beliefs and behaviours it separates what we commonly call the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’. But we should not have it confused it with the law’s of what’s ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ because they are not one and the same thing.To quote the “Random House Websters College Dictionary”: Absolutism is any theroy holding that values‚ principels‚ ect.‚ are absolute and not relative‚ dependant‚ or changeable. In The Meanings of
Premium Truth Relativism The Culture
Ethical Relativism; No moral truths‚ just relative to the individual/culture. When is different just different and when is it morally problematic? Diversity of standards often leads to issues with regards to; Corruption/work practices/child labour/inferior products/government influence Situation sensitive: need for tolerance/understanding of variety of cultures. Moral diversity: no wrongs/rights‚ based purely on social norms. Shouldn’t pass judgement on situations
Premium Developed country Human Development Index Country classifications
The Divine Command Theory is a meta-ethical theory which proposes that an action’s status as morally good is equivalent to whether it is commanded by God. The theory asserts that what is moral is determined by what god commands‚ and that to be moral is to follow his commands. As a Christians‚ I believe that my people use divine command theory approach rather than egoism or act or rule utilitarianism as a basis of the ethical systems. In Christianity‚ Judaism and Islam‚ good and bad are seen as being
Premium Jesus Bible Christianity
Aly Hirz Morals‚ Period 6 Keller-Scholz April 9‚ 2013 Amazing Grace Amazing Grace is based on the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce. His friends William Pitt‚ Thomas Clarkson‚ Hannah More and others persuaded William to take on the dangerous issue of the British slave trade. Wilberforce became Member of Parliament in 1780 and navigated the world of 18th Century backroom politics to end the slave trade in the British Empire. John Newton‚ a former slave ship captain‚ inspired him
Premium William Wilberforce Atlantic slave trade Slavery
What is Relativism? Relativistic Stances Relativism can be considered as a philosophical stance which assumes that there is always a claim relative to a dependent or an independent parameter. A relative truth‚ a relative aspect of reality‚ a belief which is relative to a cause and relativistic ethics come under the dependent parameters category. On the other hand‚ independent parameters include factors that influence a relativistic stance such as time‚ gender‚ religion‚ location‚ state of mind
Premium Truth Relativism Religion
Understanding other cultures without making judgments about the way they do things or the way they understand and react to things is the basic concept of cultural relativity. The importance of this idea is demostrated by Richard B. Lee in his story about the Christmas feast with the !Kung. In this story Lee‚ a social anthropologist living with the tribe‚ experiences a misunderstanding that almost caused him to pack his belongings and leave the bushmen which were the subject of his study
Premium Culture Anthropology Cultural anthropology
A Defense of Ethical Relativism-Ruth Benedict Summary Paper Ethical relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to the norms of one’s culture. That is‚ whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. The same action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another. Benedict mentions emotions such as joy‚ anger‚ and grief‚ or human drives such as the sex drive‚ and argues that these emotions can be expressed
Premium Morality Cultural relativism