29th Jan 2014 Ethics Assignment # 1 Moaaz Khan ME-969 Sec.

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Moral Relativism is a philosophy that asserts there is no global, absolute moral law that applies to all people, for all time, and in all places. It varies in different cultures, people and religion. It is the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect objective and/or universal moral truths, but instead make claims relative to social, cultural, historical or personal circumstances.

Descriptive relativism is merely the positive or descriptive position that there exist, in fact, fundamental disagreements about the right course of action even when the same facts obtain and the same consequences seem likely to arise. Meta-ethical relativism, on the other hand, is the meta-ethicalposition that the truth or falsity of moral judgments, or their justification, is not objective or universal but instead relative to the traditions, convictions, or practices of a group of people. Normative relativism, further still, is the prescriptive or normative position that, as there is no universal moral standard by which to judge others, we ought to tolerate the behavior of others even when it runs counter to our personal or cultural moral standards.

Example: 1. Suiciding for Muslims is considered to be a great sin but for a Samurai it is considered very honorable. 2. Drinking wine is not considered ethical while driving but drinking it for relaxation at night is acceptable. Moral Absolutism is the ethical belief that there are absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged, and that certain actions are right or wrong, regardless of the context of the act. Thus, actions are inherently moral or immoral, regardless of the beliefs and goals of the individual, society or culture that engages in the actions. It holds that morals are inherent in the laws of the universe, the nature of humanity, the will of God or some other fundamental source. Example: 1. Murdering a person and breaking the law is absolutely wrong. 2. Stealing for whatever good purpose it may be is also wrong.

Moral Pluralism is the supposition that there are many independent sources of value and that there is no single truth, even in moral matters. It refers to the assumption that there are moral truths. However, this does not form a body of rational and reliable truths compared to those found in the sciences or mathematic approach. Different groups of people have different views in the approach of moral pluralism as others believe that positive results from a certain action is a morally good thing to do. Example: 1. You may be working on an project involving sexual education for youth. This may be unacceptable to some locals and thus long-term community investment is threatened. 2. Moral life of a pope is incompatible with that of a father, yet there is no purely rational measure of which is preferable.