Explain Moral Relativism

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A) Explain moral relativism

Relativism is the belief that there are no objective truths. Societies and individuals hold their own understanding what is right and what is wrong. There are two forms of relativism, subjective relativism and cultural relativism.  Subjective relativism is the idea that each individual has the ability to develop their own moral choices and then relate their version of morality to a group who share their ideals. Cultural relativism is the belief that morality is developed within social groups, Roman Catholics for example are members of a social group that have moral relative opinions that they share.

There are four different types of Cultural relativism. The diversity thesis, dependency thesis, conventionalism and pyramid relativism. A society cut off from other human existence would over time produce their own moral laws, these laws would apply to their society only, other societies would have developed their own personal moral laws that are relevant to themselves.. This is the diversity thesis. An example of this is the Yanomami tribe who survive the Amazon rainforest, they have developed their own relativist laws, for example as a result of having very little human contact up until very recently there is no recognized leader, there is equality amongst the population. This is at odds with the Tapirapé, who have had human contact for centuries and faced corruption and fear from European settlers, who have a village chief and society is predominately male dominated as reported by anthropologist Charles Wagley in his work ‘Welcome of Tears: The Tapirapé Indians of Central Brazil’.

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The dependency thesis is the argument that the morality of a society is dependent on the aspirations, beliefs, history and environment of that society. A persons beliefs arise from their own personal circumstances. As time progresses the community, who have been equally influenced by their environment and history etc., develop common laws and practices that are generally accepted. Over time there can be radical shifts in perception and traditional norms are seen as wrong, an example of this is homosexuality, in 1533 under the rule of Henry VIII The Buggery Act was put in place making sodomy illegal, the ...

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