Ethical elativism
Allen Bloom wrote one of the most controversial books of the late-20th Century, in which he denounced the demise of the core curriculum at elite U.S. universities and it replacement by what he considered to be a vague sort of postmodern relativism from the 1960s onward. As he understood it, this new liberal worldview held that no cultures could be morally superior to any others and that anyone who believed the Western world might be were simply absolutists and ideologues whose worldview led to "wars, persecutions, slavery, xenophobia, racism and chauvinism" (Bloom 1990, p. 568). Students arrived at the university having been thoroughly trained and indoctrinated in these relativistic ideas, in which the only sin was to be ethnocentric or prejudiced. Without knowing it, they were under the influence of modern liberal and progressive philosophers like John Dewey, John awls and John Stuart Mill, who regarded intolerance and prejudice…...
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References
Bloom, A. (1987). The Closing of the American Mind. NY: Simon & Schuster.
moral relativism in business want to design a car. The car needs to be light weight, and at the same time powerful, safe, and fuel efficient. As my engineer works at his drawing board, the results of field tests and mathematic equations come back that conclude it is impossible for a vehicle to be all of these things. Sacrificing weight to gain fuel efficiency decreases power and safety. Making a more powerful vehicle by increasing horsepower requires larger components, and a more substantial frame to mount the power plant. As a result the fuel efficiency is decreased significantly.
Then one day, my engineer came with a wonderful suggestion. We needed to change the physical laws of gravity, Newton's laws of motion, and the coeffiecnt of wind resistance. Then the forces which are keeping the car from being light weight, powerful, safe and fuel efficient would be modified in such a was…...
But ultimately, in practice, relativism in action is saying that no system of ethics has been valid for all time, and relativism and subjectivism are constantly evolving in creative dialogue with history and other circumstances. For example, perhaps a long time ago, a division of labor between the sexes made sense, when brute force was necessary for survival, to catch game and to defend cities, and when women had to spend a large portion of their lives bearing children. However, now that technology is responsible for so much of obtaining food and defending the nation, and the more psychological care of fewer children can better be accomplished through the participation of both parents, such a gendered division of labor is inefficient and makes poorer use of human resources, even from an objective point-of-view. And relativism allows the subjective feels of women who feel their talents are underused to be…...
The fact that the video went on Youtube is not correct, but in the end we must value if this harmed the woman's image or not. Looking at the recording we notice that the face of the woman is not visible. One can not even tell if it is a woman or a girl, since the camera was too far in order to record details. This means that it was impossible to know the identity of the person who fell. Taking this into consideration, it is safe to say that there was no damage even after the video became viral.
Did something bad happen? The incident was unusual, falling into a fountain is not something one would expect. The woman must have been a bit scared and also ashamed. It is true that it would have been nice to have someone ask her if she was ok and perhaps offer…...
Even if we are vaguely aware the clerk may be charged -- it is his or her mistake, we say to ourselves. We think we have absolute ethical standards, but we function on a case-by-case basis when making decisions in reality. Does this mean, however, that absolute ethical standards are required to weigh against the negative consequences of relativism? Firstly, these examples highlight the difficulty of living by absolute standards, and how if standards are too inflexible, they may result in no standards at all. Even religions with strict universal standards often must have a lay and clergy distinction because it is so impossible to live by the standards of the faith, 'perfectly' according to their anti-materialist rules. Abstinence-only sexual education that does not acknowledge deviations from 'perfect' behavior might be the most ineffective pregnancy prevention program of all.
Acknowledging the subjective and relativistic nature of ethical schemas does not…...
The main concern in virtue ethics becomes about a person's moral character. When people choose to develop their moral character, better virtues will be created, and thus there will be more people acting in virtuous ways in all aspects of their lives -- and this includes how they treat all animals.
One example to be considered when thinking about how a person with a strong sense of virtue might behave is to counter it with how a person with a strong sense of duty might behave. From a duty sense, if one were a livestock farmer, he or she might believe that his or her duty lies in what is best for the people because, after all, the job is about raising livestock for slaughter, which will then become food for people. Therefore, the first duty would be to humans and the second duty to animals (Panaman 20008) (which may…...
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Bibliography
Garner, R. (2005). Animal ethics. Cambridge: Polity.
Gruen, L. (2011). Ethics and animals: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press;
1st edition.
Hursthouse, R. (2000). Ethics, humans and other animals: An introduction with readings. New York: Routledge.
We may act according to our personal principles, or we can act according to our common sense. I tend to use my common sense rather than personal prejudice when making ethical decisions.
Question 4:
My ethical reasoning entails that I would carefully consider any ethical issue before making a decision about it. One major limitation involved in this is the fact that others may perceive me as morally weak. A morally strong character tends to be one that is immediate in ethical decisions. I would therefore not be able to make immediate decisions such as those required of judges or surgeons.
It is therefore unlikely that I would thrive in a profession that is very clear and immediate with regard to its need for specific ethical decisions. I would be better in a profession that is not as dependent upon immediate decisions.
I do not believe that my ethical viewpoint limits me on…...
Ethical subjectivism could also be called 'relativism,' or the notion that there is no external, objective moral authority. We as humans create our ethical norms, and ethics are culturally contextual. Ethical subjectivism stands in contrast to objectivism, which holds that there are objective moral standards by which all moral actions should be judged. "Moral statements are made true or false by the attitudes and/or conventions of the observers, and any ethical sentence just implies an attitude, opinion, personal preference or feeling held by someone" (Ethical subjectivism, 2012, Philosophy Basics).
A good example of this can be seen in the pragmatic philosophy of William James. In his Varieties of eligious Experience, James argued that all faiths were effectively divided into two categories: that of the 'religion of healthy-mindedness' and the 'sick soul. "We have all known or met people who seem happy all the time, who are convinced of the…...
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References
Agler, David. (2012). Lecture 3: Ethical subjectivism and emotivism.
Ethics
The Divine Command theory of morality is known as a nonconsequentialist theory because this particular theory of morality is one that is not in any way based on the consequences or outcomes of specific action, but rather holds that all actions have any intrinsic rightness or wrongness. In the case of Divine Command Theory, rightness or wrongness is decided based upon whether or not a specific action can be said to be in accordance with the dictates of God. Indeed, while there are advantages to this idea of morality, such as the more simple categorization of actions into a dichotomy of what is permitted, there are also many sever disadvantages, as well. These disadvantages can make the view difficult to entertain. For example, one of the main issues depends on the source of the divine command. If the divine moral commands come out of scripture, for example, how can on…...
The Vietnam War was a turning point in the Army's growing realization that senior military leaders, and not just political leaders, had a responsibility to be able to speak to soldiers, to the American people, and to the press about ethical issues.
The Professionalism Study of 1970, examined institutional systems and requirements for success in the Army, attitudes and values of senior officers, and tasks for the 1970s. One of the striking conclusions of the first study was that the Army contained "untoward and unhealthy pressures to strive for success" on the part of officers. Systems that regulated the selection, education, promotion, and reward of Army officers were in need of major correction.
It was clear that the Army needed to evaluate its concepts of values and ethics.
During the decades of the 1970s and 1980s senior commanders in all the services began to exert their influence on the direction and content…...
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Bibliography
Angelo, T.A., & Cross, K.P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers (2nd edition). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Carter, D. & Wilson, R. (1995). Thirteenth annual status report on minorities in higher education. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.
Farris, P. (1996). Teaching, Bearing the Torch. Madison, WI: Brown and Benchmark
Yet Ana and her family also sought the intervention of traditional doctors or curanderos. The curandero provides services that a Western doctor cannot: the cleansing ceremony referred to in the case study is a perfect example of differences in attitudes toward health care. A healing ceremony performed by a curandero is not likely to harm the infant and in fact may prove beneficial at least to the parents' and family's peace of mind.
There can be no absolute ethical guidelines in health care except for the fact that health care workers are obliged always to treat patients with respect. espect entails sensitivity to cultural difference and to the norms that define attitudes towards health care. Health care workers may find that some patients require privacy and do not express emotions; whereas other patients are emotionally expressive to the point where they shock or disturb those around them. These issues should…...
Ethics
number of differences exist between utilitarianism and relativism. The first difference has got to do with the parameters used to justify actions. To begin with, relativism, has got to do with the notion that moral principles as well as values correlate to cultures, places, times, or specific persons. In that regard, therefore, relativism does not consider the position that there are certain principles or moral values that are absolute as being correct. Ethical relativism, for instance, "is the view that there are no permanent, universal, objective values or standards" (Mizzoni, 2009, p. 11). ll morals could, in that regard, be justified on the basis of their acceptance by a culture or individual. Utilitarianism, on the other hand, regards actions as being right based on their utility or benefit to a greater number of people (i.e. The majority).
Yet another difference between the two ethical principles has got to do…...
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Assignment Details: Health Care Finance
The most beneficial method a manager would make use of in seeking to evaluate the utilization of the Ocean View Diabetic Clinic's money is present value analysis. One of the key advantages of this particular method, in comparison to such methods as IRR, is that it takes into consideration the time value of money. However, in comparison to IRR and the payback period methods, this method happens to be much more complicated.
The four key financial statements an organization makes use of include: the balance sheet, statement of revenue and expense, statement of changes in fund balance/net worth, and statement of cash flows. All these statements come in handy in not only the determination of an entity's financial performance, but also in the evaluation of its financial health and stability. While the balance sheet gives us a fair picture of an entity's worth and what it owes, the income statement tells us what the business managed to rake in during a specified financial period. The cash flow statement, on the other hand, is critical in both the coordination and planning of an entity's financial operations; while the statement of changes in fund balance/net worth, as Baker and Baker (2013, p. 117) points out, is "the mechanism
These are ethics that know no cultural bounds. hat is perceived as ethical in one society as well as any other is an example of a natural law. These are typically based on the human desire for equality as well as the desire to do good ("hat is Natural Law?"). Furthermore, natural rights evolve legally from natural laws often. They also often see an intertwining of religious beliefs, although they can also be expressed as more an intertwining of moral beliefs that are then supported by religion. The primary weakness of natural law theory is that it is sometimes difficult to determine if a belief is truly universal, or simply cultural.
Virtue Ethics:
Virtue ethics determines whether an action is right or wrong by the virtue of the action.
Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the…...
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Works Cited
"Kant's Moral Philosophy." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., 23 Feb. 2004. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. .
MacKinnon, Barbara. Ethics: theory and contemporary issues. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Pub. Co., 1995. Print.
"Virtue Ethics." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., 18 July 2007. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. .
Introduction
Is it true that the "bottom line" of a business is profit and profit alone? Perhaps it is for some companies, but the idea of the “triple bottom line” has been around for quite some time—and it refers not just to profits but also to people and planet. The triple bottom line has received renewed interest since the rise of the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) which refers to a company’s advocacy of and support for the values important to the “social, environmental and economic environment in which” the company operates (Castka, Bamber & Sharp, 2005, p. vii). When companies fail to consider the triple bottom line—the impact of their business operations on people and the planet as well as on profits—then they fall into that group of companies condemned by Feldman (2012) in his Sunday Review letter: such corporations fail to appreciate “how their obsession with the bottom…...
Technology / Privacy / orkplace
There is a rapidly increasing use of technological monitoring in the workplace, and while technology in general has been highly beneficial to companies, the use of some technologies has raised privacy and ethical concerns among employees. This paper reviews the available literature when it comes to workplace monitoring of employees and the ethical implications of that monitoring.
Is Privacy in the orkplace a Dying Notion?
The right to privacy is a nice idea, and in some instances and circumstances in the United States an individual can reasonably expect to have his or her privacy respected. ebsites, for example, notify users frequently that their privacy is important and it is being protected. However, when it comes to the workplace, in an age of increased reliance on electronic technology, management has been able to "…monitor virtually all workplace communications" that employees have access to.
Findlaw asserts that while employees may believe…...
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Works Cited
Davidson College. (2002). Descriptions of Ethical Theories and Principles. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from http://www.bio.davidson.edu .
Esikot, I.F. (2012). Globalization vs. Relativism: The Imperative of a Universal Ethics.
Journal of Politics and Law, 5(4), 129-134.
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2010). Consequentialism. Retrieved March 8, 2015,
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