Relativist Ethics

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  • Relativist Ethics
    • right/ wrong depends on the situation
      • teleological
      • doesn't allow the condemnation 'evil' actions
      • situation ethics is a relativist theory
      • different cultures/ periods in history have different moral rules
    • examples
    • pros/ cons
      • plausible way of explaining how ethics fit into the world as it is described by modern science
      • tolerant/ respectful of different societies
      • best explanation of the variability of moral belief/ in line with how the world works, e.g. different opinions, cultures
      • morality as a social nicety, little reason to be moral other than to fit in
      • fliexible
      • explains the virtue of tolerance, can objectively look at and accept others' differing values
      • no absolute God- people can make own decisions
      • 'slippery slope'- one step away from subjectivism
      • implies we can't criticise Holocaust, witch burning etc. allows for no evaluation/ criticism of bad things due to differing attitudes
      • doesn't allow progress, no requirement to better society
  • Herodotus, greek historian, different societies have different customs and they all think they own customs are best
    • no set of social customs is better or worse than any other
    • examples
    • no 'cultural neutral standard' to which we can appeal to determine if something is correct so nothing is really 'right'
  • Scottish Philospopher,  David Hume
    • moral beliefs are based on sentiment rather than reason
    • 'emotivism', right and wrong are relative to individual preferences rather than to social standards

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