University:
California State University, Northridge
Course:
PSY 150 | Introduction to Psychology
Academic year:

2023
Views:

312

Pages:

1
Author:

Jithin J. I.

RELATIVISM AND PRESCRIPTIVISM Emotivism and Prescriptivism  Stevenson (1944): Moral language is emotive - it expresses attitudes and influences behavior. Separates factual from attitudinal.  Problem: Still left with conflicting attitudes, no basis to choose among them.  Contemporary philosophers: Moral views must be supported by reasons morally relevant, not just self-interest.  Hare's universal prescriptivism: Moral statements contain implicit action recommendation of what one ought to do.  Justification is universalizability: If I advocate an action, I must accept anyone in the same situation ought to do the same. Similar to Golden Rule. Relativism  Idea originated with Greek Sophists. Descriptive level is cultural anthropology and sociology.  Strong cultural biases make it hard to accept foreign customs as moral. Globalization exposes managers to unfamiliar practices.  Durkheim and functionalism: societies develop customs to fulfill needs. No independent standard of right and wrong.  Issue: No basis then for moral condemnation of obvious evils.  Contradiction: relativism itself implies non-relativist values of tolerance.  Clarification: Having multiple justified moral standards, not no standards. Judgments relative to defensible standards.  Even "basic" moral evaluations may depend on cultural context.  Objectivism also fails - no independent universal moral standard holds up. In summary, key topics covered include emotivism, prescriptivism, relativism, and problems with both relativist and objectivist positions. Main headings highlight important ethical frameworks and issues.