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| Relativism - Do the circumstances matter? | ||
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| kevin |
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AKA cupcake
Registered Member #374
Joined: Fri Aug 04 2006, 03:38AMPosts: 858 |
For my homework last week I had to write on the topic of relativism in my Morality and Social Justice class (I go to a private, catholic school) and we got this paper written by a priest. He defines Relativism as this: "The ethical philosophy which holds that there are no moral rules that apply to all cultures or all people in one culture and that no country or person should "impose" their (or his) moral rules on any culture or person" Isn't that what Christianity/Catholicism has done throughout history? trying to impose their beliefs, say, on the Indians and in the process whiping out 20 million of them? Isn't that hypocritical? To say that you try to understand people, yet force your beliefs on them? He then goes on to say why relativism is so bad "Part of the reason that relativism is so appealing is due to the false belief that science and math are the only fields that yield legitimate knowledge. But there are many fields of knowledge, from chemistry and physics to history and angling--and a study of ethics can yield a type of knowledge as well" Now this is just plain wrong. Chemistry, physics (possibly history) and angling are all sciences. And couldn't ethics be filed under psychology which is also a science? I think he is trying to say that it's bad because there is a lack of faith in a higher power. It probably looks like I'm ranting, which I am, but the question here is this: Do the circumstances surrounding a certain act, say a removing a woman's clit so she doesn't feel pleasure and therefore not commit adultery/cheat , justify the act in one culture and make it wrong in another? Edited Thu Sep 06 2007, 12:40AM |
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| jigg4joe |
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Registered Member #326
Joined: Wed Jul 05 2006, 04:15AMPosts: 635 |
the answer to your question depends on what kind of grade you wanted on this paper, and whether or not you want to piss somebody off. there are no right/wrong answers in philosophy as long as your argument is well formed and backed up with examples. as long as you can say, "yeah, but what if...", you will never be wrong. this same concept applies to religion, and i'm sure if you asked your teacher those questions, he would be able to keep bs'ing you until you give up. so, the answer to your question is: who cares? play CS. |
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| sierramist |
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Registered Member #713
Joined: Sun May 20 2007, 12:58PMPosts: 210 |
I think that th simplest answer becomes visible when you evaluate things on an egalitarian scale. is the person receiving this female circumcision ( or sunna as its also known) choosing to have this done. If the answer is no then i believe it is just to intervene because her free will is being violated and her equality is being taken away. Edited Thu Sep 06 2007, 12:52AM | ||
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| kevin |
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AKA cupcake
Registered Member #374
Joined: Fri Aug 04 2006, 03:38AM Posts: 858 |
The woman and circumcision thing is just an example, sierra, share your views on relativism. Jigg, I know my views will piss the teacher off, and i know he'll try to BS me. I'll just BS him back. |
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| sierramist |
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Registered Member #713
Joined: Sun May 20 2007, 12:58PM Posts: 210 |
i agree with jigg, i go to a catholic school too and i know what ur talking about, it depends on if ur teacher will give u a good grade if u go against the "church's" teachings. If u think he can be impartial then go ahead and argue what ever you want. Personally i view things from a utilitarian standpoint and work for the greater good. Thats how i find justification in things like spreading democracy around the globe, its empirically proven that democracies dont go to war with other democracies. Thus utilitarianism justifies Things such as the iraq war. |
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| blindsk8tr675 |
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Spider-man Fanatic
Registered Member #451
Joined: Thu Oct 05 2006, 09:06PMPosts: 205 |
you take the morality and social justice too ..XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.... | ||
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| kevin |
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AKA cupcake
Registered Member #374
Joined: Fri Aug 04 2006, 03:38AM Posts: 858 |
sierramist wrote ... Personally i view things from a utilitarian standpoint and work for the greater good. Thats how i find justification in things like spreading democracy around the globe, its empirically proven that democracies dont go to war with other democracies. Thus utilitarianism justifies Things such as the iraq war. How do you know what you believe in is the greater good? Just because in America you are granted some freedoms that others don't have makes you have to spread your beliefs around the world? What works in a set of specific circumstances doesn't necessarily means it works in all circumstances. sierramist wrote ... its empirically proven that democracies dont go to war with other democracies. Empirically proven?! Are you shitting me? World war one. Civil war. Franco-Roman war. Spanish American war. Boer war. Indo-Pakistan war. Punic wars. Just go ahead and say you do not believe in relativism. Edited Thu Sep 06 2007, 01:37AM |
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| sierramist |
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Registered Member #713
Joined: Sun May 20 2007, 12:58PM Posts: 210 |
ZOMG u just made my day great lawlz Kevin wrote World war one. Germany was not a democracy it was a dictatorship Austria hungry was not a democracy, it was a monarchy Civil war.The confederate states of America were a Republic.
Cross apply my punic war argument , Rome wasnt a democracy Spanish American war. Spain didnt even start to become a democracy till 1975 ur close to 100 years off Voting in the Boer Republics was limited to the white male elite, thus not a democracy Indo-Pakistan war. Those weren't Pakistanis. They were independent, volunteer guerrilla forces operating out of Pakistan, not regular troops. Punic wars. ROME wasn't a democracy, it was a republic o and if by chance u got some information from an author by the name of Matthew White, iv read his claims, not only are they wrought with historical inaccuracies but also they are also irresponsible. Just because his essay is long dosnt automatically make it factualiy true |
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| aborted fetus |
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The All-Cum Diet
Registered Member #47
Joined: Mon Dec 05 2005, 04:55PMPosts: 1888 |
pwnt? |
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| kevin |
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AKA cupcake
Registered Member #374
Joined: Fri Aug 04 2006, 03:38AM Posts: 858 |
I'm sorry, I brought this up, I forgot you were a fucking conservative who's always right. Don't go off topic in this thread. It was my fault. | ||
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