Moral relativism

ZenMode said:
Right, because of the harm, which is established in a number of ways, corporal punishment is immoral, but there is no universal code of conduct.
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A universal code of conduct is a norm. Thus, morality is a discussion of norms.

I do not believe parents hit children solely to be cruel. Nor do I believe clitorectomies were done just to be cruel to girls.
 
Cypress said:
Not according to Socrates, who is regarded as one of history's foremost authorities of objective morality. You could say he invented objective morality as a philosophical concept.
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I am not platonic. I think Aristotle is far superior on matters of ethics.
 
Cypress said:
Not according to Socrates, who is regarded as one of history's foremost authorities on objective morality. You could say he invented objective morality as a philosophical concept of discourse.
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The Forms. Plato is an absolutist.
 
Hume said:
A universal code of conduct is a norm. Thus, morality is a discussion of norms.

I do not believe parents hit children solely to be cruel. Nor do I believe clitorectomies were done just to be cruel to girls.
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Again, reason the action is done is irrelevant to whether or not it's immoral. The location where the action is taken is also irrelevant to whether or not it's immoral. The religion, nationality, ethnicity and race of the people taking the action is irrelevant to whether or not that action is immoral.

As we agreed on earlier, it is the harm to the person that makes certain actions immoral.
 
Hume said:
I am not platonic. I think Aristotle is far superior on matters of ethics.
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Playing a role in helping Nazis gas Jews, or aiding Cannanites to burn babies alive is a greater moral violation than just telling a white lie to protect people from harm.

Life puts us in all kinds of situations where we have to choose the lesser of two evils.

Telling a white lie to prevent babies from being burned alive is objectively the right thing to do.
 
Cypress said:
Playing a role in helping Nazis gas Jews, or aiding Cannanites to burn babies alive is a greater moral violation than just telling a white lie to protect people from harm.

Life puts us in all kinds of situations where we have to choose the lesser of two evils.

Telling a white lie to prevent babies from being burned alive is objectively the right thing to do.
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Yes, you are explaining moral relativism.

Thus, morality relates to each situation. We judge how to act.
 
Hume said:
I do not agree. Morality--or ethics--is always about solving some practical problem.
And "morality" is always and only an abstraction.
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Morality is not about solving a problem, it's an assessment of an action and that assessment exists completely independently of location, race, nationality, usefulness, etc.

It would be ridiculous to claim that slavery isn't immoral because enslaving people solved a problem for slave owners in the south.
 
ZenMode said:
Morality is not about solving a problem, it's an assessment of an action and that assessment exists completely independently of location, race, nationality, usefulness, etc.

It would be ridiculous to claim that slavery isn't immoral because enslaving people solved a problem for slave owners in the south.
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Not what I meant at all.

So, my view on ethics or morality is that it is solely about having a well functioning society. Nothing universal, no abstract moral codes.
 
Hume said:
Not what I meant at all.

So, my view on ethics or morality is that it is solely about having a well functioning society. Nothing universal, no abstract moral codes.
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Yep that's the moral relativism often seen on the Lef. That's why I said your politics are getting in the way of what makes sense and is objectively true, which is that some actions are clearly immoral, something you agreed with absolutely earlier before politics derailed your thinking.

The reason that liberals often revert to moral relativism is because they are unable to separate criticism of ideas from criticism of people. That's why criticizing female genital mutation is often called islamophobic by liberals.

It's not about the people. It's about the ideas.
 
ZenMode said:
Yep that's the moral relativism often seen on the Lef. That's why I said your politics are getting in the way of what makes sense and is objectively true, which is that some actions are clearly immoral, something you agreed with absolutely earlier before politics derailed your thinking.

The reason that liberals often revert to moral relativism is because they are unable to separate criticism of ideas from criticism of people. That's why criticizing female genital mutation is often called islamophobic by liberals.
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I aint no liberal. sorry
 
Hume said:
You misread me. I have contempt for all religion. You are way off.
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Well, something is preventing you from acknowledging what was crystal clear to you earlier in this conversation. Like I said, that's something for you to figure out.
 
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