Morals are known as the prevailing standards of behavior. These things enable everyone to live together with their groups. Morals are the kinds of things that societies sanction as right and acceptable. A lot of people tend to act morally and follow guidelines applied in society. Sometimes, morality requires people to sacrifice their own short-term interests for something that gives advantages to society. Those who are indifferent to right and wrong are considered amoral. As for those who do something evil are considered immoral.
While it seems like some moral principles transcend time and culture, including fairness, morality is actually not fixed. The certain values of a certain group are described by morality at a certain point in time. According to history, morality has been closely connected to religious traditions. However, it is now as important as the secular world. For instance, businesses and government agencies have codes of ethics that are wished to be followed by the employees.
Talking about morals and morality, do you know that there are two things called absolute morality and relative morality? When you are looking for information about morals and morality, you may find these terms and you may be wondering what they are and what makes them different. Check out the following if you are interested.
Definition of Absolute Morality and the Example of It
Absolute morality is described as an idea that says there are certain universal moral principles by which every action made by people may be judged. This one is known as a form of deontology. Keep in mind that there is a challenge with absolute morality, which is there will always be strong disagreements about which moral principles are correct and which ones are incorrect.
For instance, it seems like people around the world mostly accept the idea that we should treat others the way we want to be treated by others. However, those who are from different countries may have different view about everything from the morality of abortion and capital punishment to nepotism and bribery.
Apparently, absolute morality is the opposite of relative morality, the one that denies that there are absolute moral values. Not only from relative morality, absolute morality is also different compared to plural morality, the one that urges tolerance of moral principles of the others without concluding that every single view is equally valid.
Basically, absolute morality declares a universal set of moral values. In fact, moral principles vary greatly among nations, cultures, and religions.
Definition of Relative Morality and the Example of It
Relative morality is described as an idea that says there is no universal or absolute set of moral principles. This one is known as the kind of morality that teaches “to each her own”. As for those who follow this ism, they will be aware of their place and think about who they are to judge. There are a few ways to understand relative morality.
Descriptive relative morality, which is also known as cultural relativism, says that moral standards are culturally defined. In general, this statement is true. It is true that there may be a few values that seem close to universal, including honesty and respect. However, there are a lot of differences that appear across cultures when the moral standards are evaluated by people around the world.
According to meta-ethical relative morality, there are no objective grounds for preferring the moral values of a culture over another. It is said that moral choices are made by societies based on a few things, such as their unique beliefs, customs, and practices. In fact, a lot of people believe that the “right” moral values are the kinds of values that exist in their own culture.
Normative relative morality refers to the idea that says all societies should accept differing moral values of each other, knowing there are no universal moral principles. However, most philosophers do not agree with this statement. For instance, just because some cultures allow bribery, it does not mean it is okay in the other cultures and that the other cultures do not have the right to condemn it.
As stated before, relative morality is the opposite of absolute morality, the one that says there is always one right answer to any ethical question. Basically, those who follow this ism would say something like “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
Something Related to Absolute Morality and Relative Morality
Now that you are here looking for information about absolute morality and relative morality, you may also want to know about plural morality. What is plural morality? Have you ever heard about this term before? If you are not familiar with it but you are interested in it, check out the following information.
Plural morality is described as the name of the idea that there can be conflicting moral views that are each worthy of respect. Those who follow this ism tend to be open-minded when they face different viewpoints. Before making a decision and taking action, they usually analyze the issues from a few moral points of view. They believe that a lot of moral issues are really complicated. That’s why there is no single philosophical approach that will always provide all the answers.
What is an example of plural morality? For instance, let’s say there is a building that is on fire. When the building is on fire, there is a woman who has the chance to rush inside and saves the children that are trapped in the burning building. However, she may die if she does this, which means she may leave her own child an orphan. Someone who believes this ism would conclude that there is no definite way to decide which is the better course of moral action.
According to plural morality, sometimes it is not easy to choose between competing values. It is the reason why it occupies a sensible middle ground between absolute morality that says there is only one right answer and relative morality that says there is no wrong answer.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
