Ethical Relativism Essay

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Unlike religion and law which determines ethical standards based on authority and because ethical relativism is limited to the perspective of sole individuals or societies, philosophers have established an ethical standard through logic and reason that can be applied universally based on the basic needs or overall ‘well-being’ of the human experience; arguing that the meeting of these needs produce the most contentment and satisfaction with life on a fundamental level. These needs pertain to the material conditions necessary for survival and ways in which individuals have the right to be treated. For example, every individual has a basic need for shelter, food, and clothing. In addition, every human being has the basic need for freedom, the …show more content…

Stuart Mill adds that not only the quantity but also the quality of pleasure and the importance of long-term and short-term consequences should be considered in evaluating wrong and right actions as well. Deontological ethics on the other hand, argue that duty and the nature of an action outweigh the consequences, emphasizing that making the decision to act in a way which is right because of the intrinsic value of the action itself is what makes being ethical …show more content…

It opens up my options and forces me to consider ethical choices objectively and rationally. Say for example, upon leaving the bank, I step on something in the parking lot. Looking down, I see a fairly thick plain envelope. I pick it up and discover a large amount of money, more than I have ever seen in my lifetime. As I look around the parking lot, I realize no one else is around. Hard on my luck, I’m immediately thrilled. From a religious perspective, I might speculate that this is an answer to prayer seeing that there is no one actually around to give it back to. From a legal perspective, I’m not breaking any laws in keeping it because it’s not like I’m stealing it. From a cultural perspective, I might imagine that whoever was rich enough to have that kind of money in the first place, simply would not miss it. If I keep it, who would know? Who would care? The short term consequences of finding this money are surely in my favor! Then it hits me. I am standing in the bank parking lot, after all. It is logically reasonable to assume that the owner of this money either came to deposit it or withdrew it. It could belong to someone very rich of course, but what if they were unscrupulous? A drug dealer would deserve to lose it. But what if it was someone’s life savings, college fund, or money to

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