PHIL 2400 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Egotism, Cultural Relativism, Relativism
Document Summary
Psychological egoism (pe: claims all human behavior is motivated by self-interest. Theory of human nature: relevance to ethics if pe is true, then no one would care about right and wrong, criticisms. Possible candidates for correct moral standard: consequentialism, always produces the greatest amount of pleasure overall and/or least amount of pain. (overall meaning outlook for everyone involved) Pleasure is the only thing with intrinsic value: strengths of consequentialism: Very democratic (no one: potential obstacles to ethical discussion: Relativism claims there are no objective moral claims, and there are no moral facts. Right and wrong is a matter of opinion. Personal relativism: relevance to ethics if relativism is true, then there would be nothing to figure out about right and wrong, moral unanimity: q. No, relativism is not the only explanation and someone will be wrong: relativism and tolerance: q. Must one agree with relativism to practice tolerance: criticisms of relativism:
