Philosophy Ethics: Ethical Relativism - Essay Example

ETHICAL RELATIVISM Module Module ID: Ethical Relativism Ethical relativism refers to the very theory that no act can absolutely be declared to be universally right or wrong as well as fair or unfair altogether; on the contrary, moral values and ethical principles certainly vary from one culture to another and from one social establishment to the other. Consequently, an act admirable in one culture and an overwhelming majority of the population follows the same, while the same rule is viewed to be condemnable and shameful in some other society. Thus, different societies observe divergent social norms, cultural values, traditions, customs and conventions while entering into social interaction with their cultural and natural environment. Somehow, some acts are universally taken as condemnable, and people collectively abhor the corrupt behavior, and look down the people observing the same. I came across the moral corruption of some people belonging to the Middle East, where they secretly practice same sex relationships without displaying slightest tolerance for it publicly. Being one of the most religious regions of the entire globe, the Middle East maintains the reputation of the area f the fundamentalists, due to the very fact that the followers of three major faiths including Jews, Christians and Muslims reside there. The teachings of all these faiths vehemently condemn homosexuality, as it is completely prohibited according to these faiths. The Middle East states have introduced severe punishments and penalties on finding homosexual acts, and even announce capital punishment to the offenders. During my stay in Kuwait, I came to know the very reality that the Kuwaitis have imposed strict rules related to veil for women. Consequently, mixing of genders at public or private gatherings and functions are not allowed. Even the families of native people do not develop family terms and relationships between themselves. They pretend to be chaste and pious, which do not enter into social contacts with women, and thus sexual relations with them and adultery has no concern with their culture. They criticize the western societies for practicing adultery and fornication at massive scale, and thus have completely ignored the moral values and ethics from their very life. They blame the Europeans for introducing very favorable rules and laws to the people in respect of getting involved into immoral extra marital activities, which do not have any association with the Christian faith. The Arabs also maintain serious reservations about gay rights prevailing in the USA, Europe and other advanced societies. Since Torah, Bible and Qur’an are in consensus in respect of prohibiting gay relationships, the people of the west are deviating from the right path of virtue and glory. Nevertheless, it is an open secret that the Kuwait, Qatar and Abu Dhabi are particularly notorious for practicing homosexuality during the adult and middle-aged years even. The reason behind this all includes an easy access to the male partners in the region where interaction with women is a strict taboo. “Notorious for its adherence to Wahhabism, a puritanical strain of Islam, Saudi Arabia is the only Arab country that claims sharia, or Islamic law, as its sole legal code. The list of prohibitions is long: It’s haram—forbidden—to smoke, drink, go to discos, or mix with an unrelated person of the opposite gender.” (Labi, 2007:3) Hence, keeping away from women drags the Arabs towards homosexuality and perversion, though all these nefarious activities are secretly observed in the region. Thus, the region appears to be at the verge of moral annihilation and ethical decline eventually in the wake of hypocritical strategies devised by the double-faced religious Saudi fanatics, which abhor sodomy in public, but practice the same behind the thick walls of privacy. Homosexuality is forbidden according to almost all religious beliefs, though several western countries have allowed the same sex relationships provided they are being practiced with the free consent of the parties. Thus, in Eastern cultures, homosexuality is a taboo as well as sin in the eyes of law and religion, while the same has been legitimized in North America, South Africa, Australia and Europe. Hence, the corruption of same sex relationships is taken as normal behavior in the west, while illegal and immoral in the east; however, hypocrisy is regarded as corruption and falsehood everywhere in the world. Another corruption I observed during my interaction with the Arabs was extreme level of violation of merit at the eve of recruiting the candidates against various positions. The Arabs, during the recruitment process against the managerial posts, preferred the local and European candidates respectively, while selected the Asians and Africans as workers and laborers in their organizations. Thus, the always blame the white Anglo Saxon population (WASP) for displaying prejudice against the blacks in particular and other ethno-racial groups and communities and religions in general, but do not allow non-Arabs to get involved into any business venture in an Arab world without entering into partnership with a native citizen called kafeel. “. “To be the target of racial harassment at any time is a terrible thing. But to experience it at work means being in a permanent state of dread, unable to concentrate properly and failing to achieve one’s potential. Such tension is contagious and invariably affects others, with potentially damaging consequences for the whole organization.” (Betts & Hamilton, 2006, p. 10) Hence, the corruption of favoritism, nepotism and partiality is widely observed by every society, though the magnitude and mannerism vary from culture to culture. For instance, in Europe and Arab world, the recruiters observe racial favoritism and prejudice for selecting the staff members, while in poor countries of Asia and Africa, the caste, class, clan, economic position, religion, sect and gender of the candidates are taken into account. The Asian entrepreneurs give special preference to female candidates because of the restrictions on free and unlimited inter-mixing of males and females within the social establishment. Hence, they adopt the ways that certainly come under the definition of moral corruption and sexual exploitation and harassment of female workers at large. The question whether a normal behavior makes it good or bad certainly keeps depth in its scope, which should be answered to logically. History reveals the very fact that every nation had been collectively indulged into malpractices and misdeeds at the eve when God sent His messengers for their reformation of human societies. The pages of history prove that the people of Nazareth and Mecca had been extremely cruel, ruthless and non-tolerant towards others; as well the majority of the people was habitual drinker and adulterer. Somehow, both Jesus and Muhammad not only condemned, censured and opposed the same, but also firmly stood against the social evils and malpractices prevailing in their societies. Additionally, eminent philosopher Socrates also underwent severe trials for supporting the good and opposing the evil, which used to be considered as a normal behavior on the part of the entire city of Athens. Socrates preferred drinking goblet of poison to lead an immoral, wicked and humiliating life, and thus vehemently violated against the prevailing social norms, cultural values, traditions, customs and conventions because such great personalities could not surrender before the corruption existing in their social environment. Thus, majority rule cannot be declared as virtuous or right one, as it might also challenge the very principles of truthfulness, justice, wisdom, impartiality, virtue and love. The USA serves as one of the largest as well as the most populated countries of the world, where the individuals belonging to divergent racial, ethnic, religious and regional backgrounds reside as one single nation. Somehow, there are many sub-cultures in the country, which are based upon the religious faith, regional culture and ethnicity of the individuals. It is therefore the Hindus touch the feet of their elders on meeting them even in America, while the Muslims pay compliments to others at the eve of meeting. Similarly, majority of Jews and Muslims never disclose their identity as adulterers or gays, while liberal Christians feel pride to display their sexual preferences as well as extra marital relationships to others. Hence, the liberal Christians have been the torch-bearers of the social movements demanding for the granting of gay rights and gay marriages, as well as the permission for the unwed couples to live and reproduce as well. “Gay and lesbian families live in 99.3 percent of all counties in the United States. This is in stark contrast to 1990 when the U.S. Census Bureau counted gay and lesbian families living in only 52 percent of U.S. counties.” (Smith & Gates, 2001:2) To conclude, it becomes evident that ethical relativism is an excellent method to control and confine the advancements of corruption. It is fact that apparently a large majority of a population looks involved into one corruption or the other, but at heart almost all members of a social structure abhor corruption because of the grave consequences of corruption on society. People themselves are victims of corruption inflicted upon them, so they look for some Messiah that could free them from the awkward clutches of malpractices, corruption and injustice. Corruption not only destroys the entire structure and functioning of a society, but also inflicts impediments and hurdles on the way of individual and collective progress and prosperity of the nation. The statistics also reveal that third world countries are into corruption head and ears, where different kinds of financial, moral and other corruptions are at their peak. On the other hand, the prosperous countries social justice, equality and impartiality to a great extent that serves as a ladder for them to climb the steps of progress and growth in the international arena. References Betts, Jennifer & Hamilton, Jennifer (2006) An Investigation into the Nature, Extent and Effects of Racist Behaviors Experienced by Northern Ireland’s Ethnic Minority Healthcare Staff DHSSPS Report ICR June 2006 http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/ICRracismreport-06.pdf Labi, Nadya. (2007) The Country in the Closet The Atlantic Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/05/the-kingdom-in-the-closet/5774/ Smith & Gates (2001) Gay and Lesbian Families in the United States: Same-Sex Unmarried Partner Households: A Preliminary Analysis of 2000 United States Census Data. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/1000491_gl_partner_households.pdf Read More