Philosophy, indeed the study of fundamental problems such as ones related to existence, reason and values, has seen light since ancient ages to question what could be morally wrong and right. Its Greek meaning of “love of wisdom”, involve the thinking and the analysis of these problems regarding other standards and point of views, specific to philosophers.
Moral relativism, expressed by Protagoras in his statement, expresses the capacity and the ability of humans to create individually its proper notions of truth and wrong, good and bad, evil and divine. It is believed that each human has his own conception of moral believes depending on the culture he or she grew in, religion, traditions, knowledge. So evaluating an act of being god or wrong
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Each decides what is good. If an action is good or bad, it depends on the moral standards of the society in which it is practiced. The same action can be morally legitimate and reprehensible in one another. There are no universal standards applicable to all peoples. The only standards against the practices of a company that may be considered are his. There can be no common framework to resolve moral disputes or to reach agreement on ethical issues among members of different companies.
Moral relativism is attractive to many philosophers and sociologists, because it seems to offer the best explanation of the variability of moral belief. It also offers a plausible way to explain how ethics is part of the world as described by modern science. Although the natural world is ultimately composed of nothing, say the relativistic ethics always has a basis in human feelings. Finally moral relativism seems particularly well suited to explain the virtue of tolerance. If from an objective point of view, its own values and the values of its society have no special status, whereas an attitude of "let live"
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Many scholars see the first reappearance of a relativistic spirit in the writings of Montaigne. His relativism expresses the fundamental idea that everything changes and that the world is constantly becoming. In -On mesure- Montaigne compiles a list of radically different manners in different societies, and states that "the laws of consciousness are born of custom." In his famous essay -On cannibales- written around 1578, Montaigne describes the life of so-called barbarians in the new world, noting their bravery in combat, the natural simplicity of their manners and their complicated social structure. The purpose of this test is to criticize ethnocentrism civilized Europeans who naively believe morally superior. Furthermore, Montaigne general thesis is that "each man calls barbarism is what is not his own practice, for indeed it seems we have no other test of truth and reason than the example and Model opinions and customs of the country where we live. " The growing awareness of the moral diversity of cultures of the Europeans in modern times is an important antecedent of contemporary concern of moral relativism. This development
Throughout history Europeans have shunned indigenous people because they believed their ways of life were far more superior. Michel de Montaigne shed light on this ignorant way of thinking. Montaigne was a European man with unprejudiced views far beyond his time. Montaigne believed that cultures considered savages by Europeans are in fact not savages because they do not share the same customs. He believed that the Europeans are the ones that need to look in the mirror and see that they also are not as civilized as they might think.
I will analyze this passage because of the way Montaigne gives credit to the cannibals and how he attempts to justify their humanity instead of foolishly condemning their lifestyle that is initially regarded as improbable especially when his own culture seems foolish to the cannibals. The European’s view was that all non- Europeans were savages, cannibals, less than human, and therefore to be feared. The passage will require comparison between both groups in respect to each other’s culture and their justification for the acts they perform and why each group can potentially be seen as the other. Montaigne states that as the Greeks and Turks, when they invaded Italy, the generals said that there were no barb behavior in enemies, but the Greeks still called them barbarians.
Philosophy in general relies on rational inquiry, logic, the theory of deductive and inductive arguments and aims to distinguish good from bad reasoning and speculations; opinions or reasoning based on incomplete information, it is also concerned with the blending of two disciplines; Science that which is provable and rational, and mystical, having a divine meaning that is beyond human understanding. Distinguishing between these two has been somewhat of a challenge, today we live in a society reason (science), and logos (reason) is the pragmatic mode ( a state of dealing with the problems that exist in a specific situation in a reasonable and logical way instead of depending on ideas and theories), of thought that enables one to function effectively in the world. People have and will always need logos to make sense of life.
When we hear of the apparel retailer, Lululemon, we usually think of really overpriced athletic clothing. Lululemon is a luxurious brand for those who want to invest in high quality athletic clothing. This retail company was originally founded in Vancouver, Canada in 1998. In addition, the founder of the company is Denis “Chip” Wilson, who is no longer affiliated with the incorporation due to his unprofessionalism. Over the past twenty years, Lululemon has faced a couple ethical issues, but their ethical culture has also impacted their relationship with customers and employees.
Montaigne’s Of Cannibals as a World Literature Concept “And sin, young man is when you treat people like things.” In Terry Pratchett’s Carpe Jugulum, the essence of Montaigne’s works that aided in solidifying the Humanist movement of the late Renaissance era through the questioning of ideas and the self-awareness of the French populous, has seeped into modern day literature as a foundation for varying world works. Among his essays, Of Cannibals presents a unique and intriguing view of the Cannibalistic people in modern day Brazil that challenges the 1500’s European mindset by portraying the ‘barbarians’ as more human then Europeans of the time. Throughout the work, Montaigne directly challenges the social infrastructure by demoting the superiority
In this prompt the argument that Morality exists is irrelevant, contrary to our thoughts and beliefs. Everyone follows a set of moral rules. Ethical relativists disagree with this belief because, they believe that morals are distinctive from each individual culture. These relativists as described are mixing up moral and cultural distinctions, or are simply not willing to completely understanding the cultures they are standing up for. There are two different types of relativism Ethical, and Cultural, that rely upon the argument of cultural differences, which have flaws that make the argument unsound.
The chapter about ethical relativism presents another side of the way we can perceive morality. The author distinguishes between moral nihilism and ethical relativism. According to moral nihilism, moral goodness is either a fiction or meaningless and there are no moral truths in this theory. On the other hand, ethical relativists claim that mankind creates morality. This chapter focuses on the two kinds of ethical relativism: cultural relativism and ethical subjectivism.
Barbarity in Montaigne In “Of Cannibals” by Michel de Montaigne there is repeated usage of the word barbarous in different forms. Montaigne uses this word to describe the natives several times, however he also uses it introspectively to look at European society. The author’s usage of barbarous is revealing, it’s usage questions if the natives acts are savage or simply different but in no way more primitive than European acts. This question is explored throughout the essay as Montaigne struggles to define barbarity; whether it is acts of savagery, or simply foreign ideas or actions.
Methods of Rationalism by Plato and Descartes Philosophy has had an impact on mankind for thousands of years. This topic attempts to answer questions about the everyday world, and how things are the way they are. In Philosophy, there are many different topics that are discussed. These topics include Epistemology, Ontology, Ethics, Political and Social Philosophy, Aesthetics, Logic, and more. The topic that will be discussed in this paper is Epistemology, or the study of knowledge.
56–63. Accessed 1. Baghramian, Maria and Carter, J. Adam, "Relativism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = (-- removed HTML --) . 2.
“Truly here are real savages by our standards; for either they must be thoroughly so, or we must be; there is an amazing distance between their character and ours” (158). Michel de Montaigne, takes a stand in The Cannibal, and says that the Brazilian’s didn’t follow the European views, and were barbaric. He definitely took how they were living, and analyzed it. Montaigne believed that people should not fight each other and tear them apart. The thought of fighting, and killing someone to the death sickened him, I conceive there is more barbarity in eating a man alive, than when he is dead; in tearing a body limb from limb by racks and torments, that is yet in perfect sense; in roasting it by degrees; in causing it to be bitten and worried
The last theory is Aristotle’s virtue ethics which states that we should move from the concern towards good action and to focus on the concern with good character. This paper argues that Aristotle’s virtue ethics is better than the other ethical theories. The divine command theory says that what is morally right and what is morally wrong is determined by God and God alone. People who follow the divine command theory believe that God is the creator of all things, therefore, he must also be the creator of morally right and wrong acts.
Ethical Relativism values, like mentioned earlier, are either an individual or cultural difference. In short, it means that other people and/or cultures should have the same ethical values as you do, or a "master set" of values per se. However, these values are not written in stone, therefore cannot be used in every single instance due to the fluctuation that each and every culture has. Some examples of beliefs that were listed in the textbook are beating of children, using animals for accessories, or helping those that are less fortunate, etc. (Chaffee pg. 435)
Though the relativistic view can be beneficial in positive actions that are regarded as right in most societies, it is totally confusing
For the European, these “primitive” cultures soon became a symbol of the authentic, simple paradise they had lost to civilization and its repressive conventions. The writings of philosophers