Reference no: EM131377638
Question - Judgment and Moral Relativism
INTRODUCTION:
This week we will examine moral relativism. Moral relativism is a difficult concept to grasp (Defined below). When faced with a moral dilemma, we are asked to resolve the issue by applying our individual moral standards to know what is the right thing to do; as well as, what is the wrong thing to do. Moral relativism tells us that the truth is subject to many influences including individual needs and desires, situational ethics, and a strong understanding of what is, and what is not the truth. For example, it would be unethical to accept or to define something truthful when you know it is dishonest.
Under our system of government, our individual liberty is premised on the idea that the people have the ability to govern themselves. Perhaps the hardest question this course poses is, "How do you know what is the right and moral thing to do?" Often this question is posed in a theological or abstract ideal context. However, for most of us, this challenge will manifest in more mundane or operational aspects in our lives such as how to treat a co-worker, a neighbor, or raising our kids.
Ultimately, we are asked to make a moral judgement. Our willingness to define acceptable behaviors from unacceptable behaviors help define the norms (or unwritten rules) of society. In our readings this week, Berkowitz and Moynihan write that citizens must be judgmental.
As we learned from reading Adler's article on Truth, being able to differentiate the truth can be difficult. Adler write's that the pursuit is endless. He tells us that, "It is only in the realm of doubt that we can pursue the truth." Often, moral questions envelope conflicting values, such as a desire for security and the constitutional rights of others.
Today, most Bellevue University students will probably anecdotally agree with the suggestion that America is less moral today than in the past. Often in spite the progress in institutional civil, gender and same-sex rights.
During this phase, you will:
Articulate clear and concise messages to facilitate consensus on political issues.
Judge the viability of the features of diverse political ideologies and economic systems to advocate for a more just government.
Communicate expectations and encourage openness, transparency, and fairness to mitigate differences and achieve a mutually agreeable outcome.
Synthesize and analyze various policies and issues to judge more effectively political decisions.
Video & Commentary: Judgment and Moral Relativism.
"[W]e have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion...Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."-John Adams, signer of the Constitution and Second President of the United States
https://youtu.be/8op1VGu-nvY
Dragnet, TBMM, 2015
In the previous phase, we explored the role that morality plays in a free society. Specifically, we examine the long and complex relationship between organized religion, judgement, morality, and the necessary self-discipline that a democratic government asks of its citizens.
As America rolled into the 20th Century, the role and expectations of government adjusted to the evolving society. American society was moving from the simplicity of Jefferson's agrarian economy to the more complex world of larger cities, industrial jobs, and pluralism. Low skill, low wage European immigrants were competing for jobs creating an anti-immigrant backlash in the form of Nativism and religious prejudice. Amid this era of progressivism, the role of government moved from a distant and dispassionate force to a proactive balance against the rise of the business sector and the social issues exacerbated by immigration, poverty and larger cities. These changes sparked the ongoing debate over the question, "What is the proper role of government in American society?" This debate is as vibrant today as it has ever been.
On one hand, government has the ability to proactively mold society through laws, regulations, and taxes, reduce individual risk and delay, and be able to respond more quickly to the needs of society. On the other hand, a larger government is a stronger government which, as we learned from our readings by the framers and founders, poses the potential for a tyrannical threat to individual freedom.
As Adams (above) and other founders indicated, they believed a moral society would be a more free society. As we learned last week, they believed that the moral self-discipline of religion played a role in creating a more moral society. Theoretically, the self-discipline of a moral person requires fewer laws that are designed to curtail bad behavior. A strong system of norms (unwritten laws of society) helps curtail bad behavior. Norms are developed by individual judgments of proper and improper behavior.
At the same time, these non-inclusive norms gave little solace to those who were not a part of mainstream American society during this period including Roman Catholics, Native Americans, African-Americans living under "Jim Crow laws," and other ethnic groups of non-Anglo-Saxon origin.
Moral relativism is a polemic argument between tolerance for individual liberty and the needs of a structured society based upon rules which protect the rights of members of society.
Readings & Research: Judgment and Moral Relativism.
Review the following Required Reading Articles:
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/what-is-moral-and-how-do-we-know-it/
Commentary Magazine, James Q. Wilson 1993
https://ezproxy.bellevue.edu/login?auth=bb&url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.41212064&site=eds-live
Sen. D.P. Moynihan
https://ezproxy.bellevue.edu/login?auth=bb&url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=4258788&site=eds-live
W. B. Irvine
https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/18/why-we-must-judge/
Roger Berkowitz
https://public.callutheran.edu/~chenxi/Phil315_031.pdf
Ruth Benedict, 1934
Review the following Required
Research Articles:
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/15/whats-morally-acceptable-it-depends-on-where-in-the-world-you-live/
Pew Research Center, 2014
https://www.pewglobal.org/2014/04/15/global-morality/
Pew Research Center, 2014
Read all sections, https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/#/11111111111
OECD Better Life Index
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/why-our-children-dont-think-there-are-moral-facts/?_r=0
NY Times, 2015
https://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/chapter-5-social-attitudes/
Pew Research Center, 2014
Videos: Judgment and Moral Relativism.
Review the following videos:
Human history is sprinkled with horrible examples of man's inhumanity to man: including the treatment of Native-Americans, Nazi concentration death camps or the internment of 'Americans of Japanese descent 'in domestic camps during World War II. Individually we often hear ourselves, or others, claim that they would never go along with such abhorrent and awful behaviors. Noted social scientist Stanley Milgram proves them wrong! That human willingness to follow authority can be deadly for ourselves and for others.
https://youtu.be/fCVlI-_4GZQ
Milgram Obedience Study, LiveWord? via YouTube!, 2011
In this Ted Talk Jonathan Haidt explores the "moral mind" and how individual beliefs and attitudes frame our world view. What's the difference between Conservatives and Progressives? Are we subject to our political stereotypes? How predictable are you? While helping Progressives understand how being closed-minded inhibits their understanding of the world, the host takes a few "swipes" at Conservatives. While the video is a good poke at everyone, if you are especially sensitive, you might want to abstain from this video.
https://youtu.be/8SOQduoLgRw
Jonathan Haidt: The moral roots of liberals and conservatives, TED, 2008
Respected journalist Bill Moyers interviews author Dr. Thomas Frank. The author suggests a theory that our class is influenced by morals and culture rather than economics. He suggests that voters in Kansas do not vote in their own individual best economic self-interest. Instead he discusses how social issues and the "great backlash" against cultural elites stimulate conservative voters.
https://youtu.be/1zOVKTU4TJI
Bill Moyers - Thomas Frank, Whats the Matter with Kansas July 9, 2004 - PBS_1, Start Loving-wage Love or die, 2010
How do you deal with a bully without becoming a thug? In this Ted Talk peace activist Scilla Elworthy maps out the skills we need as national and individuals to fight extreme force without using force in return. To answer the question of why and how nonviolence works the host evokes historical figures such as Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma), Mahatma Gandhi (India), and Nelson Mandela (South Africa). American civil rights leaders Martin Luther King also used non-violence techniques.
https://youtu.be/mk3K_Vrve-E
Scilla Elworthy: Fighting with nonviolence, TED, 2012
Watch It or Read It: In this video Roger Berkowitz visits his article on the need for human judgment. While society asks us to not be judgmental, the host in this video discusses how important it is that we engage in judgment. Berkowitz discusses how failure teaches us to become better humans.
https://youtu.be/bXdZvo4Dx4E
TEDxEastHampton - Roger Berkowitz - The Next Generation of Human , TEDx Talks, 2011
Use the assigned materials to better understand your own moral position. Taking a moral position requires one to judge what is good and what is bad. However, least we get overly sanctimonious; we want to know the basis for us to define right from wrong. If the nature of man is fallible, as many suggest it is, then using one's own definitions can quickly lead to moral relativism.
The results of the Milgram Experiment (see video) demonstrate that under certain circumstances the average person is capable of great inhumanity (or rationalizing immoral decisions). According to the Milgram video, our readiness to comply with authority even when compliance results in an immoral act is a human behavior that is documented throughout time and across cultures. While Milgram's laboratory methods came under scrutiny, his results are accepted and help us understand man's proclivity of inhumanity towards others.
For this assignment complete the following steps:
Explore this website: https://amhistory.si.edu/perfectunion/non-flash/overview.html
Try to place yourself in the role of a decision-maker who is deciding whether to place Japanese-Americans into internment camps. Recognize how complexity, Nativism, and fear lead to this result. Review the actual documents and arguments of the United States government in favor of incarceration.
1. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5730250
2. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/confirmed-the-us-census-b/
3. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/323/214.html
Your assignment this week has two parts.
Part One:
Would you have agreed with the actions of the U.S. Government? Create a memo to then President Franklin Roosevelt explaining your position. Be certain to cite at three of this week's assigned reading articles as sources to support your position.
Part Two:
In the modern era, many Americans are (understandably) afraid of terrorist acts. What, if anything, can we learn from the actions of American society toward Japanese-Americans in the 1940s? Provide a short social media post (less than 10 sentences) that you could use to help frame the modern concern for Muslim-Americans based upon our historical experience with Japanese-Americans. Include this post at the end of your memo document. The challenge of this assignment is to recognize how easily societies can devolve into mob-like activities. Madison's Federalist Paper No. 10 and the Constitution tell of our duty to protect the rights of others. The Milgram experiment tells us that often "we" are perpetrators.
The rubric for this assessment will be used to provide feedback on your work. Review the rubric and use it to guide your work.
1.Remember, citing additional sources from previous weeks is a strong demonstration of learning.
2.Provide APA style bibliography.
3.Students are to use appropriate grammar and punctuation skills including APA in-line citations and quotation marks.
Finally, review the presentations of three other students. Pose questions and provide feedback.
The rubric for this assessment will be used to provide feedback on your work. Review the rubric and use it to guide your work. Remember, it is your job as a student to demonstrate learning based upon the assigned course materials.
Vocabulary:
Moral Relativism: "Moral relativism is the view that moral judgments are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint (for instance, that of a culture or a historical period) and that no standpoint is uniquely privileged over all others. It has often been associated with other claims about morality: notably, the thesis that different cultures often exhibit radically different moral values; the denial that there are universal moral values shared by every human society; and the insistence that we should refrain from passing moral judgments on beliefs and practices characteristic of cultures other than our own." https://www.iep.utm.edu/moral-re/
Morality: "Beliefs about what is right behavior and what wrong behavior is. The degree to which something is right and good: the moral goodness or badness of something." https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morality
Additional Notes:
This course uses plagiarism software.
Assignments are submitted via' the link found at the top of the assignment area. This link will place your assignment on the appropriate shared discussion board as well as in your individual gradebook. Your instructor will provide unique and individual feedback in the gradebook. Providing feedback in the gradebook is a private communication between the student and the instructor. Your Professor will use this private forum to provide feedback to students on how to improve their performance.
Grading: This course is designed in the Skills-to-Performance format. There are three components in the course. Each component is comprised of four phases. A phase represents one week. The assignments for the first three phases of each component are for skill practice and development. Each assignment grade in first three phases of each component is worth only five points. However, in the fourth week of each component students are expected to demonstrate skill mastery. In the fourth week of each component, the assignment points are much higher. The points for Week 4 (C1P5) and Week 8 (C2P4) are 100 points each. The Service Learning Project (SLP a/k/a C2P4) assignment is due in Week 12. The SLP is worth 200 points.
The rubric for this assessment will be used to provide feedback on your work. Review the rubric and use it to guide your work.
Assistance: Students are encouraged to collaborate BEFORE writing their assignments. Each phase of the course has its own student led, non-graded discussion board. Students are encouraged to use this forum to seek or offer help, to discuss the course readings, to define the themes and topics of the articles and to discuss the assignment questions. However, you assignment is to be your own work.
Another form of assistance is the voluntary, online synchronous KSS Tutorial. Check with your instructor for additional information.