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Moral Relativism Analysis

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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 …show more content…

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" …show more content…

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

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