What Is An Example Of Relativism

2076 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of relativism

Subjectivism is defined as personal opinions, perceptions, and points of view. It is used by Nietzsche. It shows that there are no facts and there are no true and false. An example of subjectivism is the different arguments and opinions about the idea of abortion. Some people might see it as a murder because it implies killing a human being, while others would argue killing a fetus is a moral if it causes risks on mothers.
Relativism is based on shared experience of culture and socioeconomic class. It gives group opinions of something rather than an individual opinion. It is used by Nietzsche. It implies that there are no facts and no truths. An example of relativism is the difference between dress codes in the past and the present. People …show more content…

It is based on too many events, examples and incidents that lead to a generalization. As discussed in class, an example would be the difference between suicide and assisting suicide. We need to analyze the situation to draw a conclusion whether a person commits a suicide or not. We need to know about his marriage and job status to determine if he commits a suicide because of his unhappy life. If there is someone assisted him to commit the suicide, why he has done so. Both suicide and assisting suicide lead to death, but each one is based circumstances.
Deductive objectivism is the opposite of inductive objectivism. It is used by Plato. It infers that there are facts in ethics. It is based on a general idea to get a conclusion. An example of deductive objectivism would be if we have five different shapes of triangles and we ask what make them triangles. All five triangles have three angles and three sides regardless of the type of the …show more content…

Socrates was asking Euthyphro to define piety and impiety. He states that “Tell me what is the nature of this idea, and then I shall have a standard to which I may look, and by which I may measure actions, whether yours or those of any one else, and then I shall be able to say that such and such an action is pious, such another impious” (Plato, p. 5). This implies that even though religion might have contradictory beliefs, it helps people get the standard rules to live their life knowing how to deal with situations of justice and murder. If people follow the God’s rules, they would agree to punish the injustice. Also, he wants to indicate that what is good is associated with what is beloved and holy by god.
Although Socrates seems to agree that holiness is loved because it is holy, not holy because it is loved, he was confused about the opposite side of this statement. He believes that if gods love something, it is because it is holy and what is dear to gods, it is holy. But, he wants to understand the essence of holiness to find out what is dear to God is holy because its holiness not because it is

Show More
Related

  • Different Definitions of the Word "Pious" Depicted in Plato's Socratic Dialog Euthyphro

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    The dialog begins with Socrates and Euthyphro meeting at the king-archon's court; Socrates has been summoned with charges of corrupting the youth and impiety, and Euthyphro wishes to prosecute his father for leaving one of his servants, a murderer, to die. It is at this moment that Socrates first asks Euthyphro, a young priest who considers himself an expert on piety, what is pious. Socrates claims that if he can convince the court that he has learned the meaning of piety from Euthyphro, they might dismiss the charges against him. It is clear from the start that a lexical definition of piety is not what Socrates is interested in. Rather, he is looking for a practical definition of the pious. A definition of Socrates approval would allow him to look at any action and determine as to whether or not it is pious.

    Read More

  • Euthyphro, By Socrates: What Is Pious?

    1521 Words  | 4 Pages

    A question that breaks off from that is, “Is the pious being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being loved by the gods (10a)?” Without reading Euthyphro, understanding this question would be nearly impossible. I think that the answer requires a lot of thinking. Piety is pious simply because it is a pious thing, not because it is loved. If you take gods out of the scenario, piety is based on societal beliefs, pious actions are done to please ourselves, and we already have the knowledge to make pious things. Socrates was not found guilty of being impious, but he was found guilty for not believing the same way his society did, showing that piety is linked with society, not the

    Read More

  • Piety And Virtue In Plato, Euthyphro And Meno

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    When discussing specific knowledge, it is often hard to pin down an exact definition of what it is you are discussing. Often a concept or word will get thrown around so often that it will begin to be taken for granted and when pressed, a person may struggle to pin down specifically what it is they mean. Realizing this, Socrates often went out and attempted to fix these kinds of problems and find out what people actually knew, compared to what they just thought they knew. In the dialogues Euthyphro and Meno, Socrates attempts to pin down definitions for piety and virtue, respectively. In doing so, we are shown that the thinkers in question struggle to define these terms, and attempt to do so in vague terms that may vary heavily under different circumstances. What Socrates is attempting to find is one definitive definition of piety and virtue, what is called his One Form Requirement. Rather than defining something by classifying different parts that make it up, Socrates maintains the belief that piety and virtue both can be simplified into one specific form that describes exactly what makes all F actions F.

    Read More

  • Distortions of the Daniel Boone Legend and Their Impact

    2899 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...s and attitudes. It means history classes that teach more than a few pre-selected facts and films that admit that there may be more than one side to every story.

    Read More

  • Why Is Socrates Impious And Indoctopious?

    1281 Words  | 3 Pages

    Because Socrates’ ideologies and beliefs went against the cultural expectation of Greek society at the time, he was prosecuted for being impious and corrupting the minds of Athenian youth. In the words of Euthyphro, being pious is doing what pleases the Gods. The reason Socrates was being accused of being impious was due to the fact that he did not believe in or acknowledge the Gods that the city of Athens believed in. His accusers also believed that he introduced new deities which was seen as corrupting the youth. This is because Socrates believed that Athenians did not truly understand the meaning of piety themselves. That’s why in the text Euthyphro, Socrates questions Euthyphro what is pious or impious. Socrates never wanted to indoctrinate

    Read More

  • Euthyphro Dialogue

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    The dialogue starts off with the two main characters: Euthyphro and Socrates. Socrates has been indicted for corrupting the youth of Athens and Euthyphro is indicting his father for murdering a day-labourer who killed one of his servants through neglect. Socrates acknowledges that Euthyphro must be very knowledgeable on the subjects of piety and holiness which are integral to the Greek judicial system and that by learning from Euthyphro, Socrates might better be able to defend himself from the accusations against him. Using the Socratic Method, the two characters arrive at a number of definitions of what is holy. Since the first two definitions involve the pantheistic nature of their religion, they’re irrelevant to the argument used against the meta-ethical value of the Abrahamic religions, but the third raises what is commonly known as the Euthyphro dilemma.

    Read More

  • Nietzsche: Philosophizing Without Categorizing

    1233 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nietzsche: Philosophizing Without Categorizing. How are we to philosophize without "Ism?" For, although defining a person in terms of an Ism is dangerous--both because it encourages identification of the individual with the doctrine and because it denies her the possibility of becoming that, as a human, she is heir to--grouping people according to a doctrine to which they subscribe is a convenient mental shortcut. Although grouping people into verbal boxes entails the danger of eventually seeing all of the boxes as equal, or similar enough to make no difference, the necessity of seeing the totality of a single human being is impossible. And although the qualities of my existence, or anyone else's existence (an individual's isness), are constantly undergoing a process, both conscious and unconscious, of revaluation and change, the change is usually not great enough over short lengths of time to qualify as noticeable.

    Read More

  • Holiness according to Socrates and Plato

    373 Words  | 1 Pages

    Keeping true to Socratic/Platonic methodology, questions are raised in the Euthyphro by conversation; specifically “What is holiness?” After some useless deliberation, the discussion between Socrates and Euthyphro ends inconclusively. Euthyphro varying definitions of piety include “What I do is pious to the gods,” and, “What is pleasing to the gods is pious.” Socrates proves these definitions to be insufficient, which leads us to the Apology.

    Read More

  • Cultural Relativism: An Impediment to Critical Morality

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Simple Subjectivism and Serial Killers

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    Subjectivism in simplest terms is the belief that moral judgments are simply individual expressions of feeling. Subjectivists believe that there are no objective moral truths; they believe that moral truths are only statements that represent how the proponent feels on a particular issue. Therefore, a subjectivist would focus more on Price’s intentions of com...

    Read More

  • Socrates's Argument Of Pious Being Loved By The Gods

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    Socrates’s argument that what is holy and what is approved of by the gods are not the same thing is convincing because they both are two different things. Like Socrates stated in EUTHYPHRO, “Is the pious being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being loved by the gods?” This connects back to Socrates argument because it states that the gods choose what is pious because they love it or is it pious because it being loved be the gods. The gods are determining the definition of pious instead of letting it be defined. In a way they are changing the definition of it because their peers will look up to them and follow what they have to say. Socrates arguments relate to this because if the gods don’t approve of something

    Read More

  • Thesis Statement On Moral Relativism

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    Moral relativism is the concept that people’s moral judgement can only goes as far a one person’s standpoint in a matter. Also, one person’s view on a particular subject carries no extra weight than another person. What I hope to prove in my thesis statement are inner judgements, moral disagreements, and science are what defend and define moral relativism.

    Read More

  • The Controtorical Analysis Of Nietzsche's Moral Nihilism

    2660 Words  | 6 Pages

    In philosophy “Nihilism” is a position of radical skepticism. It is the belief that all values are baseless and nothing is known. The word “Nihilism” itself conveys a sense of abolishing or destroying (IEP). Nietzsche’s work and writings are mostly associated with nihilism in general, and moral nihilism especially. Moral nihilism questions the reality and the foundation of moral values. Nietzsche supported his view on morality by many arguments and discussions on the true nature of our inner self. Through my paper on Moral Nihilism, I will explain 5 major arguments and then try to construct a deductive argument for each, relying on Nietzsche’s book II “Daybreak”.

    Read More

  • What is Culture Relativism: Views by James Rachels

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    Culture Relativism; what is it? Culture Relativism states that we cannot absolute say what is right and what is wrong because it all depends in the society we live in. James Rachels however, does not believe that we cannot absolute know that there is no right and wrong for the mere reason that cultures are different. Rachels as well believes that “certain basic values are common to all cultures.” I agree with Rachels in that culture relativism cannot assure us that there is no knowledge of what is right or wrong. I believe that different cultures must know what is right and what is wrong to do. Cultures are said to be different but if we look at them closely we can actually find that they are not so much different from one’s own culture. Religion for example is a right given to us and that many cultures around the world practices. Of course there are different types of religion but they all are worshipped and practice among the different culture.

    Read More

  • Conceptual Relativism and Radical Social Constructionism

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    Conceptual relativism is concerned with truth and knowledge and belongs specifically with the ability of the human mind to construct different realities, people have different versions of realities but there is no one reality as is the same with truth there is no one absolute truth there are only truths. (Lazar 1998)Many authors have described the nature of this in their own languages and this has bought about many different views of conceptual relativism. It was Daniel Little’s belief that conceptual relativism was concerned with the fact that as the world is separated into so many different countries, cultures, religions and beliefs. It would not be possible to only have one theory on the structure of everything inside the world, for all individuals think differently, how can one theory be more plausible than another. (Lazar 1998) Peter Winch had a more radical view and argued that Science had absolutely nothing to do with explanations on what existed. He stated that human beings are more than just physical objects and that if human action was not being understood from the inside, how could the social sciences understand human action at all. He went on to say that the majority of sociology was not in fact a science it was a masked type of philosophy. Winch’s claims against the social sciences caused problems and some ethnomethodological sociologists changed the way they studied society and developed a non scientific route. (Lock 2010)However rationalists such as Popper reject the idea of relativism as he believed that unless all individuals shared the same framework of basic knowledge, there could never be agreements made. (Benton 2001)

    Read More

More about What Is An Example Of Relativism

Open Document