What is Personal Ethical Relativism?
If morality is not relative to culture, as we discussed in yesterday’s post, might it be relative to a person’s beliefs, attitudes, emotions, opinions, desires, wants, etc.? Personal relativism is a theory that holds that moral judgments are relative to, conditioned by, or dependent upon, individuals. This theory has ancient roots, but it’s also popular today.2 These remarks capture the basic idea: Continue reading Personal Moral Relativism
Philosophical Ethics
Ethics is that part of philosophy which deals with the good and bad, or right and wrong in human conduct. It asks questions like: What is morality? Is morality objective or subjective? What is the relationship between self-interest and morality? Why should I be moral? Continue reading Summary of Cultural Relativism
What is Relativism?
Is LA close to New York City? Well, it’s relative. LA is closer to NYC than it is to Mars, but it’s not closer to NYC than it is to San Diego. Is hip hop good music? Well, it depends. Continue reading Is Truth Relative?
Thrasymachus, a character in Plato’s Republic, denies that justice (morality) is real. He claims that ethical rules are made up by people—primarily the elite ruling class—and others who follow the rules are just dumb. Continue reading Is Ethics Objective? Discussed in Two Pages
(continued from yesterday’s post.)
4. EMOTIVISM: AN EXTREME FORM OF PERSONAL RELATIVISM
4A Emotivism Defined
The English philosopher A.J. Ayer (1910 – 1989) and the American philosopher Charles Stevenson (1908 – 1979) developed Continue reading Is Ethics Relative? (Part 4–Conclusion)