Relativism and Utilitarianism

Relativism and Utilitarianism

Subjective relativism; also known as Subjectivism, supports the view that the truth depends solely on what someone believes. It is the belief that whatever you believe is right for you personally and left up to you to determine. Subjective relativism allows the individual to have the power over the principles used to dictate how they live their life.

A good example of how the concept of subjective relativism has been used in my life is over the topic of abortion. My personal belief is that abortion is wrong and I am against it. I also have a 15 year old daughter, for argument sake let's say that she gets raped and pregnant. That situation could have an impact that might make me change my ethical view on abortion. To me that would be subjective relativism.

Conventional (cultural) relativism; also known as Conventionalism, supports the view that no culture is superior to any other culture when comparing systems of morality, law, politics, etc. It's the philosophical notion that all cultural beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the cultural environment. Those who hold to cultural relativism hold that all religious, ethical, aesthetic, and political beliefs are completely relative to the individual within a cultural identity (All About Philosophy , 2012). Unlike the subjective view, cultural relativism is what is right for you as an individual and this is dependent upon what the particular culture believes is right for you. The culture or society becomes the highest authority about what is right for each individual within that society. Conventional relativism places the individual's will subordinate to the will of the cultural majority, it implies that all you have to do is convince a few of your close friends to engage in some activity that is viewed as immoral by the rest of society. Suddenly you have now made the previously unacceptable activity ethically and morally correct for you (All About Philosophy , 2012). "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12, NIV).

I have traveled all over the world and have experienced numerous different cultures, every culture I have experienced view that their culture is morally and ethically correct. Spain for example in the 1990's had a legal drinking age of 16, while in Saudi Arabia illegal and forbidden by Sharia Law it is punishable by lashes and even stoning. In my five years of living in Spain I never witnessed a Spanish teenager drunk, I believe that this was due to the fact that they had a very high regard and respect for their parents and would not want to embarrass them publicly. What would America be like if our drinking age was 16? Would our children behave the same way?

A topic discussed in class was arranged marriages, my perception before the discussion was