PHL 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: James Rachels, Conventionalism, Cultural Relativism
Document Summary
Phl 201 - week 6 - lecture 15: categories of ethics: Narrative ethics: inquiry into systems prescribing moral acts. Applied ethics: a narrative ethical theory applied to concrete cases (euthanasia) Abortion is immoral i don"t like abortion . Politician: trying to do the most good for the greatest number. Moral relativism: ethical view that there are no universal moral standards. Applied to all people at all times. If s believes that x is wrong/right, then x is right/wrong for s (where s is justified in believing x is right/wrong by virtue of believing x) Example: hitler believes it"s right to kill jews. Our ethical judgements are always correct by definition (infallible) Morality is dependent on the culture one finds themselves in. When in rome, do as the romans. It accords well with our intuitions that some actions are morally wrong. It makes sense of the divergence of values among differing cultures. Different cultures live according to very different moral standards.
