PHI 2174 Lecture Notes - Moral Relativism, Cultural Relativism, Relativism
22 Sep 2014
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Morality and self-interest: normative ethics: how should we act/what should we be like, applied ethics: right/wrong for particular topics, e. g. duties of aid to the worse off. Premise(s: points reasons made to support the conclusion. Conclusion: the main claim being argued for. A philosophical argument is a conclusion supported by one or more premises. Validity: argument is valid when it is not possible that the conclusion could be false if the premises are true. Soundness: argument is sound when it is valid and all the premises are true. Cultural relativism: the view that what is right and wrong depends on culture. Identifying and assessing arguments for and against moral relativism. Rachels" overall conclusion is that the argument from cultural differences is invalid, self- contradictory, based on exaggerated premise and leads to unacceptable conclusions. It is mere arrogance for us to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should adopt an attitude of tolerance towards the practices of other cultures.
