Ethics Project Notes

Mike Johnson

Ethics

Project II

Moral absolutism is an ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong, regardless of other contexts such as their consequences or the intentions behind them. I can stand for moral absolutism when it comes to stealing. Stealing is wrong no matter how you shake or bake it. The absolutist position can seem very moral and upright until applied to certain realities. For example what if abortion was made illegal? How would spontaneous miscarriages be handled under this rule? Under moral absolutism, every miscarriage would have to be criminally investigated. How would this effect the mother who is already distraught over losing her child getting interrogated about her pregnancy? This is why I personally can’t always stand for absolutism although it works out excellent in a lot of situations.

Ethical relativism is a view that what is right or wrong and good or bad is not absolute but variable and relative, depending on the person, circumstances, or social situation. Because what people think will vary with time and place, what is right will also vary. If, however, changing and even conflicting moral principles are equally valid, there is apparently no objective way of justifying any principle as valid for all people and all societies. To me this is important to understand and acknowledge especially in business travel. When we go to another country on business we have to realize ethics from they’re point of reference. Ethical relativism is a huge part of all our cultures. For example in some countries it might be ok to eat cats and dogs for lunch where here in America it can get someone in jail or possibly the nut house! Same difference when comparing India to the US. We love to eat cows over here but in India slaughtering a cow for food might get you in deep trouble.

Freedom is limited and no one is completely free. We cannot freely act on all our desires. For example, we can’t snap our fingers and make our...