Moral relativism

Based on Rachel’s point of view on cultural relativism, he defines it as “a theory about the nature of morality” (Rachel, pg 19). He then shows based on his definition of cultural relevance that the argument is invalid. Even if the premise is true, the conclusion does not follow. Therefore the very form of argument is a mistaken belief. Here is what the argument would have us believed. Since, “different cultures have different moral codes” (Rachel, pg 12). It follows from the facts that there…

Cultural relativism may be defined as a theory that advocates the idea of subjective morality. To extrapolate, this theory entails that “different cultures have differing moral codes” and these variances are merely arbitrary. Although this is a seemingly sufficient theory, there are key issues with this school of thought. James Rachels suggests several issues with accepting cultural relativism. He criticizes cultural relativism by stating that the theory is absurd as it entails severe…

ethical relativism true? Before one can answer such a question, they must ask themselves, what ethical relativism is. Ethical Relativism is the stance that all opinions of perspective are equivalently accurate and the individual themselves arbitrates what they believe to be true to them. Ethical Relativism hypothesizes that beliefs might be different for every individual, simply because different people believe different things to be true. Ethical Relativism establishes that there are no moral…

the use of relativism in public discourse. In it, he makes solid claims against a certain kind of strong relativism, in which any kind of moral evaluation is thought to be unwise. But thankfully, relativism is a more capacious idea, and can help show us how to be more persuasive in our arguments against Trump. Specifically, Levinovitz lambasts “cultural relativism,” which he loosely defines as “reluctance to take one culture’s norms as authoritative”. He then states that such a relativism…

In William Shaw’s essay about Relativism in Ethics he analyzes the matter of what is ethically wrong and right and how relative it is to an individual or to one’s own culture. He defends to argue that ethical relativism of either side is unjustified. Shaw examines that some relativist may think that morality is relative to only the individual and not one’s own culture. This theory considers that what is right and what is wrong is determined by what an individual may think is right or wrong.…

1) I agree that morality should be authoritative over our preferences. If everyone did what their heart desired there would be a lot of robberies, unfaithful marriages, and tragic deaths. Relativism has flexible standards that have the potential to change according to the individual's feelings and desires. While Biblical Absolutism has a set of standards that are given to us in the Bible and through the 10 Commandments. I also agree with the second characteristic that points out that morality…

Kathleen, I agree that ethical relativism is not true because although we can accept differences in moral, cultural norms, practices, and beliefs, there is still a stronghold in my mind that morality can hold some of these beliefs and practices morally wrong. From my research and reading ethical relativism is a theory that is relative to the norms of one’s culture and fluctuates right from wrong on an individual and group level. This is the deciding factor between cultures actions and whether…

Relativism vs Christianity Relativism shuns the notion of absolute truth. Because there is no absolute truth, anything and everything is true or not true only to those who choose to believe or disbelieve it. In other words “truth may be true for one but not for another since everyone has different interpretations based on different human conditions” (Christian Part one 6). This creates problems because if everything is relative, then so are morals. The morals of relativism are severely warped.…

society is what determines whether certain behaviors are acceptable. Furthermore, a person's individual beliefs should be taken into consideration and therefore help determine whether suicide can be condoned. This belief follows the idea of cultural relativism which states that “a sophisticated understanding of the world must include an appreciation of such differences between cultures” (James Rachels). In other words, various cultures have varying ethical codes, and these differences should…

The normative theory of ethical relativism is one that states that there is no right or wrong, simply that people from different areas of the world and from different cultures have their own set of beliefs and way of doing things. This fits into ethical relativism because in theory there are no moral principles that are universal and the same throughout the world. This theory claims that it would be impossible for one single set of rules or ‘rights and wrongs’ to ever pertain to everyone on the…