The Purpose Of This Assignment Is To Give You Pra

The Purpose Of This Assignment Is To Give You Pra

The purpose of this assignment is to give you practice particularly in: 1. Identify and apply a variety of ethical theory 2. Evaluate and differentiate between an epistemological, a metaphysical and an ethical question 3. Understand and apply the criteria of correct philosophical reasoning 4. Understand the difference between a rhetorically good argument and a rationally good argument. 5. Identify, reconstruct and evaluation arguments posed by philosophers Outside of this course, this will help you understand and apply good reasoning, spot problems in another person's side of a debate (or spot them in your own) and know how to rephrase a person's stance in better, more easy to understand ways. Also, in a more practical way, this also lets you see the faults and how to better defend the common-place view that ethics are relative. Task: Cultural Differences Argument In class and in the readings, we covered what the different kinds of relativism are and some of the various arguments for moral relativism. In this assignment you need to: 1. Explain that argument 2. Explain at least one of the problems the argument has 3. Say how serious you think the problem is and why you think that. Each of these should take you around a paragraph to answer. Each of them are worth 5pts. Since this is worth 20pts, this is worth 5% of your total grade.

Example: This is a bare outline of a possible paper, there is no explanations or anything like that in it: 1. One of the arguments for moral relativity is the Cultural Differences Argument. - Explanation of the Cultural Differences Argument. 2. One of the problems for this argument is that it is not valid. - Examples of its invalidity 3. I think that this is not a damning objection. - The reason for this is that I am a poor scientist/philosopher and will hold my stance no matter what and for any reason. In this version, I would be able to do the entire paper in 3 paragraphs. If you go that route, make it clear to me where the individual parts are.

Submission: To submit this assignment, I only accept .pdf, .doc, .odt, and .docx. I do not accept .pages. You can find where to submit in the upper right of this screen. As for all assignments in this class, the standard is Times New Roman, 12pt font, double spaced, 2-3 pages (that is, at least a few words onto the second page to the bottom of the third).

Paper For Above instruction

The cultural differences argument is a prominent relativist stance in moral philosophy, asserting that moral practices and beliefs vary across cultures, and thus, morality is essentially relative to cultural context. It posits that because different societies have differing moral codes, there is no objective or universally valid moral truth; instead, what is moral in one culture may be immoral in another. This argument emphasizes cultural diversity in moral standards, suggesting that moral judgments are shaped by societal norms and traditions rather than by any absolute moral principles.

One of the primary problems with the cultural differences argument is its logical invalidity because it conflates moral relativism with cultural relativism. Just because different cultures have different moral codes does not necessarily mean that morality itself varies objectively; it could instead imply that different societies interpret or practice the same moral principles differently. Furthermore, the argument risks endorsing moral nihilism or moral relativism in ways that undermine moral criticism and progress. For example, it could justify practices like human rights violations simply because they are culturally accepted, thereby preventing moral critique and improvement across societies. Additionally, the argument does not account for the possibility that certain moral standards could be universally valid, independent of cultural context.

In my view, the problem of the argument’s invalidity is quite serious because it impairsthe argument’s capacity to establish moral relativism as a coherent stance. If the argument is invalid, then the conclusion that morality is entirely relative to culture does not necessarily follow from the premise that cultures differ morally. This weakens the overall justification for relativism and opens the door for the possibility that some moral truths might be objective or at least universally applicable. The severity of this problem depends on how much one values moral critique and moral progress—if moral standards are entirely culturally dependent, moral reform becomes difficult, whereas if some moral truths are universal, moral reform can be justified independently of cultural differences. Personally, I believe that recognizing universal moral standards is necessary for meaningful moral progress, thus making the validity of the cultural differences argument critically important in assessing relativist claims.

References

• Honderich, T. (Ed.). (2005). The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press.
• MacIntyre, A. (1981). After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. University of Notre Dame Press.
• Rachels, J. (2003). The Elements of Moral Philosophy. McGraw-Hill.
• Shweder, R. A. (2003). Thinking Through Cultures: Expeditions in Cultural Psychology. Harvard University Press.
• Kohlberg, L. (1984). Essays on Moral Development, Vol. I: The Philosophy of Moral Development. Harper & Row.
• Taylor, C. (1991). The Diversity of Goods. The Civil Society and Associated Essays. Edited by Gavin Curtis and William Aiken.
• Boas, F. (1966). Race, Language, and Culture. University of Chicago Press.
• Gensler, H. J. (2001). Ethical Theory and Business. Pearson.
• Craig, W. L. (2008). Moral Dilemmas and Moral Theory. Routledge.
• Williams, B. (1973). Utilitarianism: For and Against. Cambridge University Press.