Relativism, Skepticism, Objectivism, and Intuitionism

Cultural Relativism

• view that ethical and moral standard reflect the cultural context from which they are derived.

• understand culture in its own terms and to not make judgement using the standards of one's own culture

Cultural Relatavist

uphold that culture differ from one an other and so do moral Framework that structure relations within different societies.

equally

no culture is better than any other and all beliefs are ______ valid

Franz Boas

German-American Anthropologist that established cultural relativism as an analytic tool in the early 20th century

Is Cultural Relativism good?

Yes, it allows people to practice their beliefs enjoy their cultural heritage without having fear of why they do what they do

rigidity

Cultural Relativism eliminates _______ that societies have in place regarding ethics, conduct, and reasoning.

individualistic perspective

cultural relativism promotes _______ which is how a person acts, thinks, or responds

Ethnocentrism

• theory opposite to cultural relativism

• compare cultures to one another and decide what culture is better

objectivity and universality

Cultural Relativism challenges our belief in the ______ and ______ of moral truth

Cons of cultural relativism

states that there is no such thing as universal truth (which is wrong, in any religion, it is wrong to kill)

quietism

cultural relativism’s weakness is the propensity towards ______ which may compromise action towards human rights

social reform and moral progress

if relativism is true there can be no such thing as _______ and _______

ethicists

believe that cultural relativism threatens the discipline of ethics

Skepticism

attitude of doubting knowledge and claims set forth in various areas

Skeptics

test the reliability of claims by asking what principles are they based on and what can they actually establish

postulation of final truths

skepticism holds that one should refrain from making truth claims and avoid the ______

common sense skepticism

natural, healthy, most of us use in a daily baisy

Philosophical Skepticism

we know much less than we think we do or we know nothing at all

absolute skepticism

most extreme type of skepticism

are moral relativism and skepticism linked?

yes, but only to an extent. morality is relative to culture, this view faces challenges because it makes it difficult to criticize harmful cultural practices

objectivism

human knowledge and values are objective: exist are determined by the nature of reality, to be discussed by one's mind and are not created by thought one has.

personal happiness

main objective or the theory of the human experience is to pursue _______ _______ and respect other people

Ayn Rand

described objectivism as the concept of a man as a heroic being, w/ his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his absolute.

free will

• ability to think or not to think, to use reason or to not to, to go by facts or feelings

• person does not have to use reason, the choice is his to make

moral objectivism

certain acts are objectively right or wrong, independent of human opinion. there are objective moral principles that are valid for all people

Moral values of objectivism

freedom, achievement, individualism, and reason

Louis pojman

proposed 1 moral principle that is binding to all human beings, “It is morally wrong to torture people just for the fun of it”

objective

based on facts and evidence

subjective

based on personal feelings, taste, or opinion

Intuitionism

ability to understand something immediately without the need for conscious reasoning

Intuitively

basic truths are known _______, your intuition knows something because its true

Intuitionism in metaethics

A form of cognitivism that holds moral statements can be known true or false immediately through a kind of rational intuition

intuitionists only needs:

feelings, thoughts, and attitudes

subjective things and objective truths

working with entirely _______ arrives at moral intuitions, which then put forward to _________

moral intuition

• There are moral objective truths in life that human can understand immediately.

• but that assigned with intuition is more credible

discarding

philosopher suggest ________ Intuition in whatever the theory prescribes

confidence and counter evidence

moral intuitions are held with _____ and resist ______

Claims that moral intuitionist believe to be self-evident

• All people to be treated fairly

• it is wrong to harm an innocent person for no reason

• All people are to be treated with dignity