Understanding Ethical Relativism

• Ethical Relativism is presented by Joharel S. Escobia

Cultural Diversity

• Infanticide was practiced in ancient Greece
• Eskimos allowed their elderly to die by starvation
• The Spartans of ancient Greece and the Dobu of New Guinea believed stealing was morally right

Societal Norms

• Fathers in ancient Rome, under "patria familia," could kill their children without punishment
• A tribe in East Africa threw deformed infants to the hippopotamus
• A tribe in Melanesia considers cooperation and kindness as vices
• Anthropologist Colin Turnbull documented that the Ik in Northern Uganda have no sense of duty toward their children or parents
• Some societies require children to kill their aging parents, sometimes by strangling.

Cultural Practices

• The Callatians (Asian Tribal people) and the Greeks practiced certain customs
• In Iraq, women who are raped are so shamed that their brothers may kill them
• Millions of girls in northern Africa and southern Arabia undergo genital mutilation (clitoridectomies)

Summation

• Morals are learned unconsciously, like walking and breathing
• There is no known why the morals are what they are
• When we wake to consciousness of life we find morals already hold us in the bonds of tradition, custom, and habit
• Cultural differences regarding moral norms exist between nations and within the same nation over time, known as cultural relativism
• Cultural relativism is a descriptive thesis that announces moral diversity in the world
• Ethical relativism is normative or philosophical, stating there are no universal objective moral principles that bind all people at all times

Ethical Relativism

• Ethical relativism holds that no universally valid moral principles exist; moral principles are relative to culture or individual choice

Argument for Ethical Relativism

• Morality varies from society to society, so there are no universal moral standards
• The rightness depends on the society to which one belongs
• Therefore, there are no absolute or objective moral standards at all times

Melville Herskovitz and Intercultural Tolerance

• If morality is relative to its culture, there is no independent basis for criticizing another culture's morality
• One ought to be tolerant of the moralities of other cultures
• Conclusion: Morality is relative to its culture, one ought to be tolerant of other cultures

Subjective Ethical Relativism (Subjectivism)

• Morality is in the eye of the beholder
• It depends on perception

Subjectivity

• According to Ernest Hemingway: what feels good is moral, what feels bad is immoral, emphasizing personal feeling
• Bullfighting feels moral because it evokes feelings of life, death, mortality, and immortality

Ethical Objectivism

• Human nature is relatively similar in essential, having common basic needs and interests
• Moral principles are functions of human needs and interests, instituted by reason
• Some moral principles better meet needs and promote human interests

Essential Concepts

• Principles meeting human needs and promoting interests in optimal ways are objectively valid moral principles
• Given a common human nature, there is an objectively valid set of moral principles applicable to all humanity

Natural Law Tradition

• Human beings possess a rational nature established by God, allowing them to flourish in specific ways
• Reason can discover the laws necessary for human flourishing, even without knowledge of God
• Natural laws are universal and unchangeable, and should be used to judge societies and their laws
• Laws of societies not aligned with natural law are counterfeits