Examples Of Moral Relativism

Moral Relativism When faced with a choice of right or wrong, what matters do you consider to aid your decision? One commonly considers what their family or peers would do if they were in the same circumstance. This is because these individuals are apart of their culture and tend to share the same beliefs as them. Therefore, you are basing your actions on what would be commonly done by the individuals that make up your cultures. This is how someone who considers themselves a moral relativist would view the situation. Moral Relativists believe “there are no moral rules that apply to all cultures or all people in one culture and that no count or person should impose their moral rules on any other cultures or person”. (Peach, 9) When making a

Paul doesn’t generally like Vinnie, he describes him as “big and mean”. In addition, Paul believes Vinnie doesn’t try in school because he's an athlete. Because of Paul’s feelings towards Vinnie it appears he does not want to help Vinnie with his test. Although,Paul is a moral relativist, which means he believes what’s right and wrong depends on the moral code of his culture. A moral code is a collection of moral norms that are widely excepted by individuals of a culture. Although according to Mark Timmons “There is much more to a moral code than simply accepting a bunch of norms. In addition, having a moral code involves being disposed to act in certain ways and feel a certain range of emotions. (43) Without Paul’s help Vinnie would surely end up on academic probation. Without Vinnie the hockey team had no chance of winning in the championship game. Everyone followed the hockey team and winning was extremely important to their culture. If Paul wants do what is right according to his moral beliefs than he must help Vinnie pass the test. It’s simple, “moral relativism states what is right for the culture is based on the basic moral norms of the culture.” (44) Doing what it takes to win at sports is a moral norm in his culture. Therefore, helping Vinnie on his test is obligatory because according to the basic moral norms of his culture, helping Vinnie is required to