LIBE 467 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Divine Command Theory, Moral Relativism
Behrooz Kianian
A00930520
The case study “Purchasing Abroad” is about Marry who is deciding weather to do
business with one of three countries China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. However,
working with those cultures would mean taking actions that would be considered wrong
in her own culture.
Normative ethical relativism
Normative ethical relativism is based on the claim that moral principles cannot be
validated on a universal level. This means that different cultures should be free to
establish their own principles and basic values as a foundation for morality. As a result,
correct moral principles are based on the views of the majority of population. Therefore it
would be wrong for any minority group to criticise against the moral views held by the
majority population in a society.
Divine Command Theory
The divine command theory (DCT) of ethics holds that an act is either moral or
immoral solely because God either commands us to do it or prohibits us from doing it,
respectively. On DCT the only thing that makes an act morally wrong is that God
prohibits doing it. When it comes using DCT to assess Mary decision, since cruelty of
others is unethical in accordance to gods will, she would not want to do business with
these people because is considered morally wrong.
Saudi Arabia were women might not be treated as equal to men’s, such as not being able
to hold high management level or not being able to drive this would violate Divine
Command Theory, since we are all equal in eyes of god. In China were there is forced
labor, this would also violate Divine Command theory because mistreatment of others is
considered wrong and unacceptable. However majority of people will view forced labor
in china reasonable and for Saudi Arabia people might see that women’s have adapted
and believe they have different roles to their society.
In conclusion Mary should not try to force her own beliefs onto people of different
cultures and should accept that for these people those actions are accepted. However If
Marry was to follow Divine Command Theory, she should not be doing business with
these countries as they are all violating this theory. Personally I believe doing business
with these countries would not be morally wrong, she should accept the cultural norms
and should demand that her future partners to respect and accept her values also.
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
The case study purchasing abroad is about marry who is deciding weather to do business with one of three countries china, pakistan and saudi arabia. However, working with those cultures would mean taking actions that would be considered wrong in her own culture. Normative ethical relativism is based on the claim that moral principles cannot be validated on a universal level. This means that different cultures should be free to establish their own principles and basic values as a foundation for morality. As a result, correct moral principles are based on the views of the majority of population. Therefore it would be wrong for any minority group to criticise against the moral views held by the majority population in a society. The divine command theory (dct) of ethics holds that an act is either moral or immoral solely because god either commands us to do it or prohibits us from doing it, respectively.
