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Compare and contrast utilitarianism and relativism
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Recommended: Compare and contrast utilitarianism and relativism
[A] 1) Moral relativism maintains that objective moral truth does not exist, and there need not be any contradiction in saying a single action is both moral and immoral depending on the relative vantage point of the judge. Moral relativism, by denying the existence of any absolute moral truths, both allows for differing moral opinions to exist and withholds assent to any moral position even if universally or nearly universally shared. Strictly speaking, moral relativism and only evaluates an action’s moral worth in the context of a particular group or perspective. The basic logical formulation for the moral relativist position states that different societies have empirically different moral codes that govern each respective society, and because there does not exist an objective moral standard of judgment, no society’s moral code possesses any special status or maintains any moral superiority over any other society’s moral code. The moral relativist concludes that cultures cannot evaluate or criticize other cultural perspectives in the absence of any objective standard of morality, essentially leveling all moral systems and limiting their scope to within a given society. 2) Utilitarianism provides a method for calculating the moral worth of specific actions in terms of their consequences. Utilitarianism teaches that happiness comprises the fundamental purpose and pursuit of human life. Therefore, the value and worth of any given action should be evaluated in terms of its ability to produce happiness. The utilitarian defines happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain, and teaches that in all cases individuals should act in such a way as to achieve the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people. Utilitarianism... ... middle of paper ... ...our own beliefs and practices. (2) A second objection might suggest that the focus on experiencing morality might lead to a lack of deliberation or critical engagement with the concepts of morality intellectually. 1) I would respond to anyone suggesting that tolerating differing opinions weakens the authority of my position by giving the example of stubborn fundamentalists, who by blindly refuse to acknowledge any value in other people’s beliefs really reveal the limitations of their own beliefs insofar as they prevent them from seeing truth and beauty in anything but one’s self. 2) A response to the second objection would be that the very nature of experience engenders thought and deliberation. I cannot go and serve at a soup kitchen without considering the value or meaning of the action. Essentially, experience always affects and stimulates thought and reflection.
Utilitarianism is a moral theory that seeks to define right and wrong actions based solely on the consequences they produce. By utilitarian standards, an act is determined to be right if and only if it produces the greatest total amount of happiness for everyone. Happiness (or utility) is defined as the amount of pleasure less the amount of pain (Mill, 172). In order to act in accordance with utilitarianism, the agent must not only impartially attend to the pleasure of everyone, but they must also do so universally, meaning that everyone in the world is factored into the morality of the action.
"Who's to judge who's right or wrong?" In the case against moral relativism Pojman provides an analysis of Relativism. His analysis includes an interpretation of Relativism that states the following ideas: Actions vary from society to society, individuals behavior depends on the society they belong to, and there are no standards of living that apply to all human kind. An example that demonstrates these ideas is people around the world eat beef (cows) and in India, cows are not to be eaten. From Pojman second analysis an example can be how the Japanese take of their shoes all the time before entering the house. In Mexico it is rare that people take off their shoes. They might find it wired or not normal. In his third analysis he gives that sense moral relativism and cultural relativism are tied together, that their can be no
Utilitarianism is a concept that focuses on the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. It revolves around usefulness and benefit while focusing on a larger population. It is highly outcome based so to do a thorough analysis one has to weigh the outcomes
Cultural Relativism is a moral theory which states that due to the vastly differing cultural norms held by people across the globe, morality cannot be judged objectively, and must instead be judged subjectively through the lense of an individuals own cultural norms. Because it is obvious that there are many different beliefs that are held by people around the world, cultural relativism can easily be seen as answer to the question of how to accurately and fairly judge the cultural morality of others, by not doing so at all. However Cultural Relativism is a lazy way to avoid the difficult task of evaluating one’s own values and weighing them against the values of other cultures. Many Cultural Relativist might abstain from making moral judgments about other cultures based on an assumed lack of understanding of other cultures, but I would argue that they do no favors to the cultures of others by assuming them to be so firmly ‘other’ that they would be unable to comprehend their moral decisions. Cultural Relativism as a moral theory fails to allow for critical thoughts on the nature of morality and encourages the stagnation
Moral relativism has two conceptualized frameworks that describe statements. These are Cognitivism and Non-Cognitivism. Cognitivism in a nutshell is merely the opposite of non-cognitivism. Relatively, it is the certainty that moral statements do express beliefs and that they are apt for truth and falsity. Moral judgments generally dwell in this arena due to the element that people incline to make moral judgments a large part in their decision-making and anything which is non-existent in moral values tends to be discarded. The spectrum that Cognitivism belongs to is so broad that it encompasses the milieus of moral realism, moral subjectivism and error theory. Hillary Putnam in his book, Ethics without ontology states that ethical (including mathematical) sentences can be factual and unprejudiced
Utilitarianism is a moral theory that expresses the view that human well-being is the only good. When determining which action to take utilitarians desire to know which action will produce the greater overall human well-being. Utilitarians believe that everyone’s well-being is of equal value. A utilitarian’s own well-being is considered just as important, no more or less, than everyone else’s well-being. When considering what action to make for the benefit or everyone’s well-being, a utilitarian must first consider their audience. The audience of an action is everyone whose well-being may be increased or decreased by the action. Each member of the audience carries just as much importance as the next and all of the members should be considered as equals (Harris). Utilitarians believe it is best to seek the “greatest total utility” (Harris ). Utility has been defined
To many theorists, the philosophical stance embedded in moral relativism aims to understand morality in such a way that refutes an absolute truth. In other words, moral relativism confronts the idea that universal moral standards are inherent to the human species and in doing so suggests that these standards are merely culturally relative. An important aspect of the moral relativist argument includes the fact that cultures vary drastically around the world; and therefore, different cultures have different moral codes. Because a moral relativist distinguishes these differences, they would proclaim that no culture’s moral code can be characterized as “right” or “wrong.”
Utilitarianism is a moral doctrine that sees ‘utility’ in benefit, which is described as ‘pleasure’. It is based upon “the greater happiness” principle, according to which the best action is the one that maximizes happiness. By ‘happiness’ it is meant obtaining pleasure and avoiding suffering. According to the doctrine, a person is supposed to aim in her actions at the largest possible amount of happiness, either in the magnitude of the benefit itself or in the number of people benefited. Moreover, long-term benefits outweigh short-term ones. Since “all action is for the sake of some end”, actions and their consequences are inseparable. The doctrine holds that the consequences of actions outweigh in significance the nature of the actions.
Utilitarians are people who believe that good is everyone’s pleasure. This is simply what they call general happiness. They believe that happiness is primarily pleasure and the absence of pain. Utilitarians think actions that give most pleasure to a larger quantity of people is morally right. Their two basic view consist of believing that we should nurture everyone’s happiness and not just one’s own, and accepting that some pleasures are bigger than others. Act and Rule Utilitarianism is based on two principles called the Consequentialist Principle and the Utility Principle. The Consequentialist Principle pretty much determines what actions are right from wrong. When determining this, actions are judged based off of the consequences. They believe the right actions will have the best outcomes. This principle does not take
Utilitarianism What is a Utilitarianism? Utilitarianism is a philosophical concept that holds an action to be held right if it tends to promote happiness for the greatest number of people. Utilitarians define the morally right actions as those actions that maximize some non-moral good or happiness and minimize some non-moral evil. Pleasure is an example of a non-moral good, and pain is an example of a non-moral evil.
Cultural Relativists believe that each society is entitled to their own opinion of what is morally right and wrong . Cultural Relativism is the theory that all moral standards are relative to one’s own culture and society; therefore, universal ethical codes do not exist . The basis of Cultural Relativism on these two principles is unconvincing.
Having the moral belief that each person has the responsibility of their own moral standards and that each person understand that others around them may not have the same moral standards as others is called moral relativism. Cultural moral relativism is pertaining to another’s person culture to set the moral standard for other people in the community. The difference from both is that the standards are set by an individual’s own personal beliefs, as oppose to the other, a person’s beliefs are impacted by the community that they happen to be a part of.
Ethical relativism states that moral values vary between different cultures and societies. It "A Defense of Ethical Relativism” written by Ruth Benedict, an anthropologist, strived to explain and explore various examples that supported the eligibility of Moral relativism. This paper asked questions such as what is normal and abnormal? How is culture and morals related? When something is considered as normal, does it subsequently also mean that it’s moral?
Moral relativists are unable to hide the inevitable consequences that would arise from a society based solely on the belief that morality is relative to each person. This is because there are simply moral truths that apply to everyone whether anyone believes them or not. These moral truths are undeniable and any attempt at denying them would result in undesirable effects. Moral relativism would imply that societies could function if members collectively believed that morality is relative to each person. This implication is false because there have been times in history where society has crumbled due to immoral actions, law and order is based on certain moral truths, and there wouldn’t be a substantial right and wrong in a morally relativistic
Firstly, Rachels’ presents Relativism, one of the oldest philosophical theories about morality. It states that right and wrong depend on each individual’s society. This theory highlights that moral relativism is the belief that there are no absolute moral truths. This teaches us that what may be true for one individual may not necessarily true for another.