Ethical Pluralism and Relativism

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Ethical Pluralism and Relativism

• Dr. Ching Wa Wong
• City University of Hong Kong
• saching_at_cityu.edu.hk

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Part 1 Ethical Relativism
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Cases to start with

• Eating the dead
• Ancient Greeks Vs Callatians
• Eskimo infanticide
• Stealing in Iks culture

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Two types of ethical theories

• Ethical absolutism
• The claim that there are moral rules which hold
  for all persons in all situations, and which
  allow no exception .
• Ethical relativism
• The claim that there is no objective moral
  standard of right and wrong, and that moral
  values are relative to a persons cultural or
  individual background, or to a certain situation.

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Types of ethical relativism

• Cultural ethical relativism
• Chinese and westerners have different concepts
  of human rights. They should not intervene with
  each others moral practice.
• Polygamy is wrong in western societies but not
  so in the Middle East. The ethics of marriage is
  just a matter of social norm.
• Individual ethical relativism
• A family man would be deeply guilty for
  committing adultery. But a sexual libertarian
  simply finds this an expression of personal
  freedom. Just why argue about its right or wrong?

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Analysis of moral concepts

• Cultural relativism
• X is right My society approves of X.
• X is wrong My society disapproves of X.
• Individual relativism
• X is right I approve of X.
• X is wrong I disapprove of X.

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Determinants of moral values

• Cultural relativism
• Customs
• Tradition
• Language
• Ideology
• Politics
• Religion

• Individual relativism
• Social upbringing
• Social status
• Desire
• Emotion
• Personality (trait or type)
• Mood
• Feeling
• Genes (?)

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Why is cultural relativism more attractive than
individual relativism?

• Anthropological sociological concerns
• The need for common moral codes within a
  nation/culture
• The value of tolerance in international politics

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Part 2 Why believe in cultural ethical relativism?
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First argument the diversity of moral codes

• Structure of the argument

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Illustration (see Rachels, 1995)

• Case 1
• The Greeks believed it was wrong to eat the dead,
  whereas the Callatians believed it was right to
  eat the dead.
• Therefore, eating the dead is neither objectively
  right nor objectively wrong, and is a matter of
  opinion.

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Illustration

• Case 2
• The Eskimos see nothing wrong with infanticide,
  whereas Americans believe infanticide is immoral.
• Therefore, infanticide is neither objectively
  right nor objectively, and is a matter of opinion.

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Illustration

• After generalization
• Different cultures have different moral codes.
• Therefore, there is no objective truth in
  morality. Right or wrong are only matters of
  opinion, and opinions vary from culture to
  culture.

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Second argument moral uncertainty

• We are not always certain about the truth of our
  own moral beliefs.
• Example
• I cannot say whether Marxism is the best
  political doctrine even if I am a Marxist.
• Just in case that we feel certain that a moral
  claim is true, we still can conceive that it is
  not objective.
• Therefore, we have no right to say moral rules
  are universal or absolute.

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Third argument situational differences

• We tend to be more tolerant of peoples behaviour
  because of their exceptional situations.
• Examples
• It seems less objectionable to eat dogs in the
  time of famine.
• Killing in the time of war is not always wrong.
• Different cultures have different existential
  conditions.
• Therefore, our moral rules cannot be applied in a
  different culture.

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Consequences of cultural relativism

• One cannot criticize the moral practices of other
  societies.
• Cultural/social norms become the basis of moral
  judgment.
• There is no moral progress.
• We should be tolerant to other societies moral
  practices if they do not harm us.

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Part 3 Objections to cultural relativism
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Problem with relativist reasoning

• Can we conclude that X is so-and-so cannot be
  true or false simply because people disagree
  about the truth of the statement?
• Examples
• The earth is flat.
• There is no God.
• Aliens exist.
• Aristotle was the author of Metaphysics.
• The third new Millennium started on 1/1/2000.

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Moral practice Vs moral belief

• Seemingly conflicting behaviours can in fact be
  motivated by the same moral belief/value.
• For example
• Collatians believed that eating their fathers
  was right because they thought this could
  preserve their fathers souls.
• Greeks believed that burning their fathers
  bodies was right because the mother nature was
  the best place for dead persons to go to.
• It follows that both their actions were motivated
  by a respect to the dead persons.
• Their actions are therefore based on the same
  moral value.

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Neutrality and tolerance

• Ethical relativism is the claim that there is no
  moral principle which is universally applicable.
• But it also says that people in whatever culture
  should respect others moral codes.
• As being neutral is neither right nor wrong, why
  must we be tolerant of other cultures practices?
• Example
• If I am a relativist, it is not wrong for my
  country to wage war on Islamic countries simply
  because we dont like their religions. Nothing is
  right or wrong independent of my countries
  values.

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Description Vs prescription

• In making moral judgment, we are not describing
  what people think is right, but rather advising
  them what action is right to take.
• Compare
• X is the right thing for CW to do CW thinks X
  is right
• X is the right thing for CW to do We have good
  reason to advise CW to do X.
• Which one is a better interpretation of our
  concept of right?

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Part 4 An alternative approach to cultural
differences Ethical Pluralism
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Ethical pluralism

• The claim that there are not just one single good
  for human beings, but many.
• The varieties of good may lead to conflicts in
  values, but it does not mean that the values are
  subjective.
• Some values are important only for people of a
  certain group, which are recognized but not held
  by other people.
• The list of values may include
• Freedom, justice, equality, harmony, solidarity,
  love, friendship, fidelity, naturalness, utility,
  affluence

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An example

• The same principle of universal human rights can
  be expressed not only in the idea of individual
  freedom in western societies, but also in the
  common (?)in China.
• Individual freedom and common interests can
  conflict with each other even if both are in
  accordance with the same moral principle.
• The best a governor can do is to teach different
  groups of people to respect each others values.

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Thin morality

• Ethical pluralism allows that there are a few
  basic moral principles that all cultures should
  follow.
• But beyond these principles, each culture can
  have its own value system, provided that it does
  not violate the higher moral principles.
• It means that
• Thin morality is the same everywhere.
• Thick morality is valid only for people in the
  same community.

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Application liberal pluralism

• Liberalism
• the political doctrine which advocates the values
  of freedom of thought, the rule of law, market
  economy, and limitations on power of the state.
• Liberal pluralism
• the liberal doctrine which advocates the
  co-flourishing of value-systems in society,
  provided that people with different moral values
  do not harm each other.

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An imagined situation

• Suppose we are in a society with people coming
  from different cultures, what can the government
  do to deal with their conflicts of values?
• If the government is completely neutral, it may
  endorse the following principle suggested by John
  Stuart Mill

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The harm principle

• the only purpose for which power can be
  rightfully exercised over any member of a
  civilized community, against his will, is to
  prevent harm to others.
• The only part of conduct of anyone for which he
  is amenable to society is that which concerns
  others.
• In the part which merely concerns himself, his
  independence is, of right, absolute.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
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Remaining questions

• If neutrality is important, it must be the basis
  of the thin morality that people from all
  cultures should respect.
• We may be able to tolerate other peoples
  different moral values because we are willing to
  cooperate and live together in the same society.
• Thus individual relativism can be refuted if
  people in the same society share the same
  political courses.
• But can neutrality and tolerance be maintained
  when we move to international politics?
• Is it necessary that we develop a global
  community if we are to reject cultural relativism?