Thus, the absolutist tells us that we must interpret the moral rightness or the wrongness of an action as holding for all times and all situations, and we must look at people as improving morally whenever they “discover” an objective moral truth and use it as a guide for behavior. For example, under the principle of moral absolutism, if the statement, “Slavery is morally wrong,” is a true judgment, then it is just as true within periods of history and within cultures which accept slavery as it is within cultures and periods of time when slavery is condemned. The absolutist would say that slavery did not become ethically wrong when the world began to reject slavery. They would say that slavery was always wrong and that the world has slowly come to “see” this objective moral truth. In contrast, the principle of moral relativism says that the only truth that is possible regarding morality is a “cultural relative truth.” This means that a sentence which says something like, “Slavery is morally wrong,” is merely telling us that, this culture judges slavery to be morally wrong. In other words, the relativist principle says that any statement about morality can only be a statement about current cultural traditions and beliefs. Moral absolutists get very upset by this view, for logically is implies that slavery could be moral, if some culture somewhere generally accepted it as moral. Absolutists tell us that slavery was not morally acceptable when it was a widespread practice, any more than the world was flat at the time that this was a common belief. The principle of absolutism says that just as people were at one time ignorant about the shape of the world, they were also ignorant of the moral wrongness of slavery. The “moral fact” is just as true for the absolutist as the “empirical fact.” They are both facts that can be discovered by the light of reason. The relativist say to this that calling cultural traditions that are different from ours “ignorant” is an example of ethnocentrism, which is the practice of judging other cultures by the standards of one’s own culture. For the relativist it is the ethnocentrist who is ignorant, or at least narrow minded, because he or she cannot accept that other cultures can have their own truth, just as our culture has its own truth. And this can lead to the imperialistic practice of one culture imposing its traditions and beliefs on another culture in the name of “morality.” *** Where do you stand in this debate? It is one thing to say that “some” traditions and beliefs are culturally relative, such as the practice of eating with your fingers, or the belief that tattoos look cool. But how about the practice of slavery, or wife beating, or having sex with young kids? Is our culture’s rejection of these things an example of moral progress toward truth, or just cultural change, no different, in principle, than the change in cultural attitudes toward tattooing that has occurred over the past 50 years? Moral Egoism Moral Egoism (often referred to simply as “egoism”) is an example of a consequentialist type of moral theory. This means that a Moral Egoist will focus on is the consequences of rules, laws, policies, and actions, and not the intentions behind the formation of these things. They tell us that a moral person uses reason to examine whether or not a particular action, rule, law or policy promotes or detracts from the egoist’s self-interest. And if an action does nothing to promote one’s self interest, we have no moral duty to perform this action. Simply put, good actions are those that benefit me; bad actions are those that limit or interfere with benefits to me; and actions which have no effect on my interests one way or another are morally neutral to me. Is this true? Is it the case that the only moral duty we have is to ourselves? Natural Law Theory Natural law theory is a type of moral theory that claims that a correct moral action is one which conforms to an absolute and universal moral standard. According to natural law theory, such standards exist as “laws of nature,” or, as natural laws. They are laws that exist as part of the general order and design of the universe. Once we come to know them, they can serve as absolute standards for our behavior. In simple terms, whenever our behavior conforms to the laws of nature it is morally right. And whenever our behavior violates nature it is morally wrong. For natural law theory, nature is seen as an absolute good and the standard by which all else is measured. In this context, the term “nature” must be taken in its broadest meaning, and not simply as a term, which refers to rivers, forests and wild animals. Within natural law theory, the term “nature” refers us to an order, essence, and design to things, which is not created by human beings, and cannot be altered by human beings. They might be laws created by, and given to us, by God. Or they might just be part of the way things are, like the laws of nature discovered in the science of physics. According to natural law theory, the laws that define right and wrong actions are not legislated or invented by human beings. Instead, they are discovered (literally to uncover what was always there) by human reason, just like the laws of nature are discovered within physics and chemistry. But unlike the laws of nature, which are discovered within these sciences, the laws which define moral action do not tell us how things are so much as they tell us how things ought to be. Although we should follow these laws, if we are to be moral, human beings have the freedom to ignore and/or violate moral laws. Thus, for natural law theory, morality is a matter of one’s intention to do the right thing, rather than the consequences of one’s actions. As long as we are sincerely trying to do what is right, we are moral. Is there really a “nature” to morality? For example, are actions such are assault, rape and murder morally wrong because they violate nature? For example, a natural human right to life and dignity
Hide
Are you looking for a similar paper or any other quality academic essay? Then look no further. Our research paper writing service is what you require. Our team of experienced writers is on standby to deliver to you an original paper as per your specified instructions with zero plagiarism guaranteed. This is the perfect way you can prepare your own unique academic paper and score the grades you deserve.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]