Laura Keane

Absolutism and Relativism

Objective moral truths

In certain moral situations, it is thought by absolutists that a moral truth is objective, which is that it is thought that certain moral situations are either intrinsically right or wrong. This moral truth is universal and unchanging in all circumstances, cultures, times and places.

Plato was an absolutist and he thought that as well as things being inherently right and wrong, he thought that goodness itself really exists beyond this world. The highest form, the form of goodness provoked the question of ‘What is goodness itself?”. Plato thought that goodness itself was the highest form of reality, which is an objective or absolute thing that existed eternally, beyond our limited world. He valued goodness very highly, comparing it to having the same importance that the sun has. Plato thought that every moral situation was either right or wrong, and that our minds which were “distorted between pleasure and pain” could not perceive circumstances correctly, because we could not comprehend goodness itself, and therefore could not judge on which situations were right or wrong.

Situations such as youths mugging an old lady or leaving a victim of a hit and run for dead are mostly considered acts of wrong doing. These situations are considered universally wrong, and there is no doubt that these acts are morally wrong. These thoughts are not the individual thoughts of a single person, but the widespread consensus of humanity. Objective moral truths are the unanimous thoughts of the majority of people on various situations which require a set of moral truths.

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Moral Statements are Relative

There are others who believe that moral statements are relative to the individual. They think that individual circumstances, cultures, times and places have different perspectives and views on various moral situations.

For an example, in strict Islamic countries it is right for women to cover themselves up, whereas in a Western country it is right for women to expose themselves more.

Relativists think that whereas one person may have one view on a situation, another person might have another view, and although their views are different, they are both right and neither are wrong.

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