Principles of Ethics KIMEP Fall 2012 Dina Sharipova.

Principles of Ethics KIMEP Fall2012 Dina Sharipova

Objectivism, Absolutism and Cultural Relativism (CR) Absolute values or relative values? Relativism: The truth or falsity of moral judgments, or their justification, is not absolute or universal, but is relative to the traditions, convictions, or practices of a group of persons Moral values seem to be different in different societies

Cultural Ethical Relativism Different cultures have different moral codes The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one society’s code as better than another’s The moral code of our own society has no special status It is arrogant for us to judge other cultures. We should always be tolerant of them

Why do some ethicists support Cultural Relativism? 1) The diversity of moral values and cultures. There is a disagreement on basic moral values or principles among philosophers who are studying ethics 2) Moral uncertainty: sometimes we don’t know what is the most important thing to do when we face conflicts between different moral values. For example, in a situation where two moral values are clashing, is it better to help a friend or to be honest? In addition, usually we are unable to understand and fully evaluate what are the consequences of different courses of action

3) Situational differences: people and cultures differ in significant ways across times and spaces  different circumstances (for example, in one place there is a problem of overpopulation, in another the problem is drought, in other places the standard of living is high) may lead to different moral values

The Cultural Differences Argument 1) Different cultures have different moral codes 2) Therefore, there is no objective truth in morality. Right and wrong are only matters of opinion, and opinions vary from culture to culture

What follows from Cultural Relativism We could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior to our own Example: The killing of students on the Tiananmen Square is not wrong because China has a long history of repressing a political dissent; 2) We could no longer criticize the moral code of our won society Example: bride kidnapping in KG and KZ, or cast system in India 3) The idea of moral progress is called into doubt Example: The status of women in society Is cultural relativism a good, sound argument???

NO. It is not Is “socially approved” = “good”? For instance, intolerance and ridicule toward people of other cultures can be socially approved (racism in the USA or in Russia) but is it good? Bride kidnapping is socially approved but is it good? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3mCswLMTmc CR ignores the sub-group problem. We belong to different groups – nation, state, city , family, etc. CR does not establish common norms between societies Do differences in people’s life situations make it unlikely or impossible for them to have any common morality?

Are you a cultural relativist? Respecting a range of cultural differences does not make you a cultural relativist. What makes you a cultural relativists is the claim that anything that is socially approved must thereby be good.

Absolutism There are some moral rules that all societies must embrace, because those rules are necessary for society to exist. Moral rules or principles have no exceptions and are context independent. Similar moral principles exist in all societies such as the preservation of human life, People in all cultures have similar needs, such as the need to survive, to eat and drink. There are many cultural similarities

CULTURAL ABSOLUTISM For example, stealing is wrong even if a person is starving to death  an objectivist who is not an absolutist may argue that there are exceptions to the rule that stealing is wrong when more important values - like the preservation of life - are involved.

Ethical Arguments Sound argument: Appeal to logic and reason rather than emotion Appeal to facts Fallacies – arguments that are not sound because of various errors in reasoning. They are often persuasive because they usually appeal to our emotions and prejudices

Standard fallacies ad hominem (to person/source of opinion rather than reasons behind; focus is on the personal qualities of the person making the opposing argument) ad verecundiam (to authority) appeal to crowd, (Argumentum ad populum) Appeal to emotion in order to manipulate or encourage others into agreement (appeal to piety, to fear)

Ad hominem Argument to personality of the opponent not to his logical arguments and thus belittling the position of the opponent Example of Ad hominem ( ad feminam) : do not enter to our serious boy’s business

Ad verecundiam To authority or to power or to the threat or to the opinion of expert Authority is not always right Expert is an expert in certain field, e.g. Michael Jordon is not an expert in football