John Stuart Mills Relativism

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Relativism states that all points of view have equal value; there are no absolute moral truths (MacKinnon & Fiala, 2015). What is considered moral or immoral is relative to the situation, time, culture and a seemingly infinite amount of variables. Therefore, one cannot place their ideals as superior to another; everything is subjective; unlike the absolutes that are universal in math. It may be wrong in some instances to lie and morally right in another. Relativist point to cultural differences as evidence that moral beliefs are subjective to the environment (MacKinnon & Fiala, 2015). In some cultures women are expected to dress in head to toe coverings and in others they can wear short dresses and have exposed skin. Moreover, people have different moral ideals even within the same culture (MacKinnon & Fiala, 2015). The problem with relativism is that essentially right and wrong to not exist. However, the theory of relativism does allow for an open mind with regards to understanding another culture, but again this theory states that infanticide …show more content…

If an action makes people happy it is morally good (Mill, 1861). Everyone has equal value. The more positive the result of an action the more righteous the action. John Stuart Mills describes utilitarianism as “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”, (Mill, 1861). In the theory of utilitarianism, there is an objective line of morality that every act should be weighed against (Mill, 1861). However if there is a moral truth can we know it? If the ends justifies, the means than acts such as torture would be moral if it saved lives. Utilitarians would argue that moral truths are truths of reason. There does seem to be some validity with regards to common ideals that many cultures share, such as murder being immortal, lying, caring for the young and a duty to the

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