No Universal Right or Wrongs

Yesterday, I just got freed of my exams and I must say yesterday’s exam went well, not gonna speak for all the exams but most of them were well. Now, I will just be waiting for the exams while praying for those(exams) that made me question my existence. Anyway, it’s over so till the result comes out, everything will be fine. So, let’s move on to today’s topic

I remember mentioning a workable theory “utilitarianism” but that had just showed up out of thin air, I had no intention on discussing that but today our topic is specifically going to be about these theories ( not just workable, others too). The thing is that these theories were a part of one of my courses and for me,  it was hard to distinguish or even understand what they say and how they are different;

 Hence I had to spend some time figuring out what they say and how they are different from each other, and, I want to share what I got so that you might not face what I faced.

Note:

I am not claiming that what I will be explaining in this article will be completely right, because that’s just how I got those theories; You are always free to do your own research and see if it’s right

Plus

This article is not academic or exam-related; it’s just a general article( which I decided to write because these theories seemed pretty interesting to me), but, still, if it manages to help someone out in there exam or studies, that would be a proud moment for me.

So let’s start

Theories

1.      Relativism ( Subjective and Cultural )

2.      Divine theory

3.      Egoism

4.      Kantianism (1st and 2nd formulation )

5.      Act Utilitarianism

6.      Rule Utilitarianism

7.      Social Contract

8.      Virtue Ethics

1.     Relativism

It’s the first and most simple one to understand. It has a single rule “There are no universal Right or Wrongs”. Same thing, action or person can be wrong for one while can be right  for other at the same time. Now, If you search on google, you will find its example as

One person can say “X is Wrong” while the other can say “X is Right”, both can be right at the same time.

Relativism has two types

1.      Subjective

2.      Cultural

1.Subjective Relativism

Subjective Relativism, as the name suggests, is all about one’s morals and perspective. In simple words, subjective relativism states that something is right if you think it is right.

For example;

We all know that smoking is wrong but if we examine it under the umbrella of “Subjective Relativism” then it depends on you, and if you like smoking and think there is nothing wrong in doing that then it’s right for you while being wrong for someone else at the same time as well.

2.Cultural Relativism

It is also a type of “Relativism” which indicates that it also depends on perspective and moral norms. The only difference between “Subjective Relativism” and “Cultural Relativism” is  the Scope.

“Subjective relativism only speaks for an individual”, means that two people living in the same society can have difference about something being right or wrong.

But

The Cultural Relativism speaks for the whole “Culture”, means that “moral rights and wrongs” are defined within the culture.

In other words, something can be right for a culture and can be wrong for the other (at the same time).

For example

In some religious cultures alcohol consumption is prohibited and is considered as wrong thing to do; while, in others, it’s legal and people do it.

Similarly, Clothes and fashion also vary from culture to culture. Different fashions of clothes maybe considered bad in one culture but can be fine in another.

In simple words,

In cultural relativism, a culture never depends on another culture to decide it’s wrongs or rights, it introduces it’s own moral norms.

Not Workable:

Despite being open and seeming as if everyone is free to think and get what they want, still, this theory is not a workable theory.

Why?

Because there are certain “Rights and Wrongs” that need to be declared “universal” for example if we keep acting according to theory of relativism then there is a chance that someone may choose to practice common wrongs such as murder, theft, abuse etc and according to him it would be “right” as it’s all about your own perspective. Right?

Hence, according to the “Theory of Relativism” there will be no one questioning his/her actions.

So, here, it comes to an end. We will be discussing other theories in the upcoming       articles; I hope you liked this one and If you did, do consider liking and subscribing. Thanks for being here.

Continued....