Moral absolutism

Ethical relativism states that morality is based on what a society or culture believes is right. An ethical relativist believes that what is moral in one culture or country may not be moral in another if they have differing values. As such, one really can’t criticize how another culture or segment of society lives. There is not one moral code or standard that applies to all under this theory. In fact, the only criteria for deciding if an action are immoral or not are if the culture dictates it…

Explain the distinction between ethics and morality. (Page 22, #1; 2 Marks) Ethics and morals correlate with each other in terms of “right and wrong.” The clear distinction between the two however is that morals is an individual’s judgment of what is right and wrong based on religion or their personal biases, while ethics on the other hand is principles of right conduct which is practical and non-subjective. Ethics promotes fairness in terms of any social and business interactions. For example,…

to act. He helps people out in their time of need, he conforms to his sense of duty when making important life decisions, and he assumes responsibility for his actions when he does not adhere to his principles. In Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant spoke of the categorical imperative. Imperatives come in two kinds: hypothetical and categorical. A hypothetical imperative is an action that is good for some purpose and a categorical imperative is an action that is objectively…

An Exploration of Othello: Delving into the Mind Frame of Desdemona and Iago Immanuel Kant’s view on ethics and morality is that in order to determine if we are acting in a fashion that can be deemed moral, we have not only a duty to ourselves but others. It is duty that determines our actions. Kant establishes certain limitations and restrictions upon the notion of duty, narrowing down a definition which would allow us to therefore be able to readily distinguish “whether the action which agrees…

Throughout history, philosophers have attempted to define and establish countless theories relating to the moral principles of the world. Some of these ethical theories include, but are not limited to, Cultural Relativism, Egoism, Kantian Ethics, and Divine Command Theory. Cultural Relativism is the theory that there are no objective moral claims across cultures. Another theory, Egoism, claims that human acts should be done solely in the interest of ones self. Kantian Ethics is centered around…

right action? How can we as people distinguish what actions to take in different situations? Kantianism and Utilitarianism both offer frameworks to determine morally right action, however these moral theories function differently. Utilitarianism offers the Greatest Happiness Principle as a framework for moral decision making. Thus Utilitarianism deems an action can be deemed morally right when it can be said both that the action provides the greatest possible amount of happiness, and provides…

on to say that morals are defined culturally based on what the previous generations deemed appropriate. She uses marginalized groups such as homosexuals to illustrate her point more fully. She references ancient Greece where homosexuality did not have a negative connotation and the act was not immoral, however, in certain parts of america homosexuality is looked down upon and gay bashing is commonplace. She uses this example to clearly show that different cultures have different moral standards…

opposite of each other, because of their meaning. But Wilde puts it into one category which determines disobedience as a good thing next to the list of goodness, righteous, honesty, kindness, and obedience. Since virtue already is determined as a high moral standard, disobedience compared to it allows people to see and understand what Wild means when he says, “Disobedience is a man's original virtue”. He wants them to comprehend that it is okay and that it is right to disobey and go against…

is require to have sound morality. Morality is the acceptance and obeying of the standards of what is deemed right due to the moral expectations placed on an individual or society. In Phillip Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the main character, Rick Deckard is a character who questions the structure of the society around him and the obligation to follow the morals established by the society or by his own once he starts to feel compassion for androids. Throughout…

Morality is a system of moral conduct, or conformity to ideals of \correct human conduct. In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, one system of morality was so distorted that Equality creates his own system of morals. Throughout Anthem, Equality, the narrator, goes through a series of events that led him to change his view of morality. At the end of Anthem, the collectivist society’s view of morality remains the same while Equality’s view of morality is changed to ideals of right human conduct.…