PHILOS 2YY3 Lecture Notes - Ethical Subjectivism, Moral Relativism, Cultural Relativism
20 Nov 2012
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Moral relativism: moral pleasure are relative to culture or individual choice: 1. Moral objectivism: universal validity of some moral pleasure: strong and moderate versions. Morality is in the eye of the beholder . Problem: little or no interpersonal criticism logically possible and morality is about interpersonal interactions. Seems to imply tolerance but that would make tolerance a universal moral pleasure: unable to criticize outside culture, no moral reason to obey law my group doesn"t recognize as valid, culture/society difficult to define. Diversity thesis: moral rightness/ wrongness varies from society to society. Dependency thesis: rightness/wrongness of behaviors depends on society to which you belong. Conclusion: there are no absolute or objective moral standards that are valid for all persons at all times. Response to diversity thesis: similarities between moral codes, fact of cultural relativism doesn"t establish its truth. Response to dependency thesis: objectivist application of moral pleasure can depends on beliefs, history, environment (weak dependency) (some) core moral principles (p. 48)
