The Endless Quest for the Universalization of Morality
The Endless Quest for the Universalization of Morality Throughout history, philosophers have been preoccupied with the notion of a universal "right" and "wrong". Philosophers want to have a sort of morality measuring stick that would enable them to judge a person's decision as being morally right or wrong, independent of the situation and circumstances that led to that decision. Since an Universal Law of Morality hasn't been discovered yet, philosophers have to use various moral theories to evaluate the morality of decisions. Some of the moral theories philosophers have developed over the years have come very close to being accepted as as universal, but none have had the characteristics that it takes to be classified as universal. Since philosophy lacks an Universal Law of Morality, philosophers must take into account the reasons and circumstances behind moral decisions, therefore they must use moral theories that are relative to decision-maker and his/her situation. Conventional moral relativism is the idea that morality is defined by individual cultures and that each culture has its own morality that is relative to that culture. William Graham Sumner believed that every culture has its own set of values and customs, s
Ruth Benedict believed that "Most individuals are plastic to the moulding force of the society into which they are born"(Sommers 205), and since each individual is influenced by many different societies, individuals develop differently as well. Individuals are exposed to a wide array of beliefs and values, and because humans have freewill they have the ability to choose what aspects of society's morality they want to accept and/or adapt to their own morality. Subjective moral relativism is the belief that morality is relative to the individual and that every individual can have his or her own morality. This theory is commonly opposed mainly for the fact that those who accept it are denying philosophers the right to judge morality. Philosophers use their theories of morality to judge other people's morality. In order for a philosopher to unbiasedly judge someone's morality they must have an Universal Law of Morality by which to judge, without one philosophers are just, in an essence, comparing two relative views of morality and saying "my views are better than yours". The Judeo-Christian tradition says "Do not judge.......Do not condemn"(Sommers 93) so philosophers, in theory, have no right to judge the decision of another. Louis Pojman believed that "If Morality is relative to its culture, then there is no independent basis for criticizing the morality of any other culture but one's own"(Sommers 248). When philosophers who judge someone else's morality, unless that someone has the same morality of the philosopher, the philosopher is trying to compare the person to a set of standards that aren't relative to the person. In a sense, philosophers, who believe their moral theories to be universal, are ethnoc
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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