This example shows that there is no possible solution of deciding what beliefs are correct and which are not, unless there is a greater being who has created life and the universe. Christians, Jews and Muslims all believe in Theistic God who has given them a set of rules to obey by, and they use this as an approach to debate that their way of living is the most correct way.
Ethical Relativism derives from the western side of the world, and is said to have come about around 8BCE. It began with the Greeks having a certain way of living and attitudes, believing heroism is one of the top forms of good. One day, around 6BCE, the Greeks discovered other civilisations, which followed different rules and beliefs, according to popular belief. This is when everything became out of control and began to take a drastic change on both the Greeks and other civilisations.
As people became more confused about how to live their lives, after discovering different attitudes to living in other civilisations, a group of people named the Sophists appeared. These wise men stated that right and wrong depended on the society they lived in. Their main argument was that people should not worry about what to believe, or what was the universal right in the world, but instead to attempt to become accepted in the public and the world.
However, later on, we see that Socrates, Plato and Aristotle all argue that the Sophists’ beliefs on how to go through life were completely inaccurate. Although we do not know a lot about Socrates, we know from Plato’s teachings that they shared the same beliefs. They argued that you should always question everything in life, rather than accepting them at face value. This was known as Rational Thought, and the teachings which emphasized the importance of these brought about many people to become Philosophers, and to try to discover more about the truths of life.
Even though Ethical Relativism allows people to gain more freedom than following Absolutism, and is able to break rules depending on the circumstances or the outcome, there are problems which make Relativism weak.
With Relativism, you are forced to always say yes and agree. You are not able to decide what is right or not. At face value, many people would believe that the use of torture is incorrect. A Relativist is not able to argue with a person if they believed torture was right, because there is no universal answer which states torture is incorrect.
If a terrorist was captured in America, and a plan was being made to destroy the continent, the Americans would torture them so that they could save the lifes of many Americans. Many people would see this as correct. However, people believe Hitler was incorrect in his views. He wanted to save the lives of his fighter pilots, so to make sure they would survive, he needed to check what conditions the human body could survive in. For this, he put some Jews in a bath, and kept adding ice until they died. Many would see this as barbaric and incorrect, however, this is the same as what the American is doing, and therefore a Relativist would have to stand back and watch, as they could not argue, or ‘draw the line’ on what is right or wrong.
Ethical Relativism uses both the Diversity and Dependency Thesis, which means there are different moral practices in every culture, and it is dependant on the rules of the society the person is in. It has both faults and advantages, and even though it would seem more rational to believe in Relativism, not all places are able to follow it. An example of this was when King Darius of Persia noticed the difference between how the Persians and Greeks dealt with their dead. He suggested that they attempt the swap their cultures. However, the Persian’s were not able to bury their dead, or the Greek’s eat theirs, as they both believed it was morally wrong.
There is only one rule in Relativism; Relativists are Teleological, which means right and wrong depends on the outcome which is gained. This known as Utilitarianism, and the rule is based on making the person happy.
