Relativism and Morality Essay

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Relativism and Mortality

Goodman and Relativism

For centuries, philosophers have debated the nature of our ethics and laws. Many have seen them as a relative concept, under the structure of relativism, where there is no universal foundation for the structure of ethics and law because individual societies differ so dramatically and should have their own ethical structures relative to their unique needs and structures. However, Lenn E. Goodman tends to disagree with this concept as seen in contemporary practice, stating that such a philosophy leaves the environment too open for interpretation and impractical for modern use, and as such some concepts within in relativism are simply off track.

Relativism is a concept within philosophy and ethics that asserts there is no specific universal truth or need. Rather, as each society varies, so do its own unique truths and needs. In this regard, the ethics, laws, and assertions within each society should vary in degree when compared to other societies where there are cultural differences that do not match. Many philosophers argue for adopting a philosophy of relativism, with its "expected benefits in tolerance and cultural accommodation," especially in today's contemporary world where globalization is threatening the sanctity of individual cultural norms and experiences (Goodman 2010).

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Each culture, each society, should be free to construct its own version of morality and ethics depending on the nature of that culture and how it has evolved throughout the years. In this regard, "human norms must vary in their particulars from society to society and culture to culture" (Goodman 2010). As such, each culture has no right to judge the values and ethics of another culture from a relativist perspective.

However, Goodman is not entirely convinced that the principles of relativism will actually work within a contemporary world. For one, Goodman sees this as too loose of a structure to be practical in modern society, especially as globalization continues to connect cultures together in a growing international society, where ethics have to transcend cultural boundaries in order for these cultures to be able to work together in harmony. Each culture has its own view of what is right, but that does not always make it acceptable on….....

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