PHILOS 2YY3 Lecture : Ethical relativism.docx
14 Mar 2013
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A convention exists when people adhere to a certain principle so that others will also adhere to it: e. g. money, property. Out of self-interest, we develop conventions to manage conflicts and live with each other: we bargain and compromise, actual not hypothetical agreement. Most of morality a result of convention: moral duties and obligations depend on conventions, sympathy leads us to approve disapprove apart from convention (e. g. kindness in state of nature) Conventional rules are reasons for/against acting a certain way. Judge persons in our group if they violate conventions: some people don"t accept convention and so it doesn"t serve as a reason for them. Cant judge them according to our conventions. Appeal to person"s own morality when we judge them. Appeal to our morality when we judge situation. Judge him: it was wrong of hitler (harman finds odd: doesn"t accept our moral standard and so doesn"t have a reason not to do what he did.
