Reference no: EM131667261

Below is a discussion about moral relative and universal morality. Read the post below and state if you disagree or agree and explain why. The response suppose to be at least 200 wordcount.

Here's the discussion:

Amy is a Chinese immigrant who just recently moved to California with her daughter, Vera. Vera recently started dating an American boy who lives in New York. One day, a letter arrived for Vera from Robert - the American boy. In the Chinese culture it is completely acceptable for Amy to open the letter and to stay in touch with her daughter's love life while Robert and the American culture may frown on this action as an invasion of privacy.

Moral relativism is the objective distinction between the two cultures. The morality, in other words, is relative to the environment, the culture, and the persons involved. In my opinion, moral relativism is the primary culture and manner in which we live our lives. "In philosophical discussions, the term "moral relativism" is primarily used to denote the metaethical thesis that the correctness of moral judgements is relative to some interesting factor, for example, relative to an individual's or group's moral norms." (Kolberg, 1992)

There are aspects of the human species that could be considered universal morality - and if I have any Boondock Saints fans reading this, perhaps this will sound familiar.

"Now you will receive us. We do not ask for your poor or your hungry. We do not want your tired and sick. It is your corrupt we claim. It is your evil that will be saught by us. With every breath we shall hunt them down. Each day we will spill their blood 'til it rains down from the skies. Do not kill, do not rape, to not steal. These are principles, which every man of every faith can embrace. These are not polite suggestions, these are codes of behavior and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost. There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth not to push the bounds and cross over into true corruption, into our domain. But if you do you, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three, and on that day, you will reap it. And we will send you to whatever god you wish." (Duffy, 1999)

Whether your universal morality is derived from Exodus or the Quran, peace and respect are the teaching of the higher beings. These emotions, these qualities, and these actions (or lack thereof) transcend religion and deliver us to the old proverb of treat others as you wish to be treated.

Amy, Vera, and Robert are all accustomed to the universal morality and principles described above. There is no culture in the modern world which embraces murder and rape as an environmental norm, let alone a cultural one. We no longer sacrifice each other to the pagan gods and in every modernized democracy in the world, persons are in fact punished for committing these universally atrocious acts.

So I guess that's the beef. If we can all agree not to kill, steal, and rape then the only thing left to discuss is the moral relativity seen amidst varying cultures. In other words, how we were raised.

Morality is relative. "In utilitarianism, actions are evaluated on the basis of consequences." (Boss, 2017) Amy probably didn't feel that she would be in the wrong if she opened the letter from Robert. In her culture, there were no consequences for being an informed parent. However, Robert and Vera's privacy has been invaded as the letter was not intended for Amy. Per Robert's upbringing and the cultural norms of the American society, Amy should expect to receive the consequence of being shunned or at least a lack of respect and trust would be evident in the coming times.

Furthermore, should we expect the relative morality of the Central Intelligence Agency to match that of the Boy & Girl Scouts of America? The aforementioned most assuredly is fighting the immoral while the latter's mission statement involves nurturing and cultivating the best citizens possible but might it be necessary for the CIA to bend or break the rules of morality to protect the Boy Scouts? I believe so, and therefore adhere to the thinking that all morality is relative - even though some morals are wide ranging and reach the majority of all established cultures throughout the world.