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Orders are Orders —Common saying in the Wehrmacht

In the aftermath of WWII during the Nuremberg trials, many Nazi officers made the claim that ‘They were only following orders’ as an excuse to their crimes. This is a form of ethical subjectivism, but it is difficult to tell if it is because of cultural subjectivism or ethical relativism. If they believed that what they were doing is right simply because their officers told them, it would be that they were influenced by the cultural subjectivism of the military. However, if they committed the actions because they themselves saw it as right, it would be ethical relativism since they were applying their own morals on the situation. Either way, the debate about whether or not it is right to follow orders simply because they are given to you will continue until it can be solved with a objective moral standard.

#ethical subjectivism

In the movie The Dark Knight, The Joker is seen as a homicidal maniac who commits evil without purpose, but also shows signs of being a moral nihilist. He believes that everyone is evil inside, and therefore are no moral truths. He believes there is no such thing as right or wrong in what he does, and commits evil to show people only chaos brings equality. Since he does not believe in morality, he is a moral nihilist.

#moral nihilism

(noch) keine Beschreibung

Sex has always been a taboo subject, especially premarital sex. In very conservative parts of the world, it is all but outlawed, while it is more common in liberal areas. This is because of cultural relativism, since our cultures often determine whether premarital sex is right or wrong. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, premarital sex and orgies are incredibly common since humans no longer reproduce through sex. The other sexual taboo in Brave New World is saying with the same sexual partner for too long. This type of behavior would be considered immoral throughout most of the world because of cultural subjectivism.

#cultural relativism

By Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson wrote the short story ‘The Lottery’ to demonstrate violence and hatred in the world. However, ‘The Lottery’ is also a good example of cultural subjectivism vs ethical relativism. In the story, a town has an annual holiday similar to Christmas or Halloween, where they issue a lottery, and the winner gets stoned, presumably to death. When questioned why they celebrate this event, people claim that they do it simply because it is tradition. The ethics of ‘The Lottery’ are not determined by individuals, but instead by social norms. However, there are some characters in the story who act upon their own morals and object, but thats usually if they are the ones being stoned.

"Blackhawk, Apache, and Comanche. If the Luftwaffe named its military helicopters Jew and Gypsy, I suppose people would notice." —Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky raises an interesting look at cultural relativism. He points out that American military vehicles are named for indigenous people whom where historically killed by Americans are ok, but if that were applied to Nazi Germany then it would be more controversial. I agree with Chomsky that it seems a bit dark to name a weapon after the culture you killed it with (not to say we fought native americans with helicopters), but it does go to show that Americans have less of a problem with its own crimes than the crimes of other nations.

#cultural relativism

In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker starts the movie off by killing Count Dooku, after disarming him and rendering him helpless. He has intial doubts, but decides to kill what is essentially an unarmed prisoner without regret. Later in the movie, he finds Mace Windu about to kill Darth Sidious, who has also been rendered helpless. Anakin tells Mace Windu he cannot kill him because he is unarmed. Anakin is exercising ethical relativism, where it is alright for him to kill unarmed, yet evil people, but wrong when others do it. Some may say he wanted Dark Sidious alive more than Count Dooku, which would make this more of a case for ethical egoism, which makes outcomes advantageous to you the right ones.

#ethical relativism #ethical egoism #star wars

In this strip, Calvin states that the ends justify the means, but only looks to apply his morals on his own actions. This is an example of a relative moral standard, since he is abiding to his own rules. This would make Calvin an ethical relativist, and Hobbes an ethical objectivist, who believes everyone should follow the same rules.

#ethical relativism #ethical objectivism

On the show Better Call Saul, a retired police officer named Mike tells a first time drug dealer that about the difference he sees between ‘bad guys’ and ‘criminals’. He speaks from experience how you can be on either side of the law, and still be considered good or bad. This is a form of ethical relativism, since it applies relative morality while ignoring culturally subjective morals. Mike argues that in the end, you decide for yourself if you are a good person or a bad person, and society will determine if you are a criminal or not.

#ethical relativism #better call saul

One of my favorite games of all time is Fallout New Vegas. Unlike the games prior in the series, this game focuses more on ideology rather than the morality of your decisions. In the game are three factions trying to take control of New Vegas in a post apocalyptic Mojave Desert, and all three show utilitarian motives for doing so. The first is a democratic republic called NCR that looks to reintegrate people into a democratic system and improve their lives, but does not give people a choice on whether they want to join. Next is Caesars Legion, a nation that also forces assimilation of everyone it conquers in hope to one day unite everyone and end all war. Last is a man named Mr. House who currently rules New Vegas as an autocracy, and keeps strict order with an army of robots. Each faction looks to forcibly integrate and control others into their own concept of utilitarianism, in order to create a ‘totalitarian utilitarian’ society in the desert.

#utilitarianism #fallout new vegas

In Republic Plato states that a democracy is no different than mob rule, and therefore the only right way to rule is through an enlightened ruler or ‘philosopher-king’. Plato would not trust the inherent goodness in people which would make him agree with Thomas Hobbes that people are inherently bad and need government to guide their morals. Plato would support social contract theory in his belief that humanity needed to be controlled.

#Social Contract Theory

All things truly wicked start from innocence. — Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemmingway believed that humans are inherently good, which would make him agree with Jean Jacques-Rousseau and disagree with Thomas Hobbes. Rousseau believed that if people did not conform to social contract would act only in self interest, but would not act maliciously, and therefore would be ‘naturally’ innocent. All people start off with a blank slate, or Tabula Rasa, which is an example against social contract theory.

#Social Contract Theory

How all ethical theories are flawed

I’ve read a great graphic novel called Watchmen, and noticed that alot of the plot dealt with the morality of many ethical concepts, especially utilitarianism. The story takes place in an alternate history during the Cold War, where the looming threat of nuclear annihilation is still very real. The villain’s plan is to destroy New York City and kill millions of people, in order to unite the world and protect it from World War III. The choice is made to kill millions to save billions, which is very utilitarian. It can be argued either way if he made the right choice, but in the end it fit the ethical model of utilitarianism by bringing the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest amount of people.

#utilitarianism #watchmen

Main Finding: The overwhelming majority of Americans (83%) want Evolution taught in public schools. While many also support the in-school discussion of religious explanations of human origins, they do

The argument of teaching evolution or creationism in public schools has been an issue since the Scopes Monkey Trial. Recently, people have sought to finally end this argument by way similar to Aristotle’s virtue ethics. Aristotle teaches that in order to be virtuous, you must act in the middle of two extremes. This however, would be a counter example to his practices, since the compromise of teaching evolution and creationism is not necessarily the right choice. Though Aristotle may agree with the practice of compromising between two extremes for an ethical decision, it would not apply in this situation.

#aristotle virtue ethics

"An unjust law is no law at all." — St. Augustine of Hippo

What St. Augustine says directly conflicts with Social Contract Theory and Thomas Hobbes, since he believes that morality does not come from authority. St. Augustine believed that morality came from an authority higher than humans, which was God, and therefore His laws superseded our own. To St. Augustine, the law was fallible and therefore there were justifications to breaking it. Rosseau would have agreed with St. Augustine that natural law was the basis of our morality, not authority.

#Social Contact Theory

Psycho-Pass presents us with a fascinating concept: a society where everyone's emotional and psychological state is carefully measured by a system, ...

I recently started watching a show called ‘Psycho-Pass’ and noticed it dealt with many ideas learned in my ethics class. In the show, there is an elaborate system in place by the government that is meant to determine whether a person is a criminal or not, and whether they should be executed or sent to therapy. This system determines this by measuring your morality and likeliness to commit crime. Anyone who strays from the government’s morals are labeled as criminals. This is a utilitarian approach to stopping crime, since it focuses more on the well being of society at large rather than individual civilians. However effective it may be, this raises several ethical dilemmas, such as the system ordering the execution of people who have not yet committed crimes.

#Utilitarianism #psycho pass

The church has had a history against hedonism, which still pertains to this day. We are told that all the pleasure we need will be given to us in Heaven with God as long as we live virtuously. That is why it makes sense for Pope Francis to remind us this during one of his most important masses of the year, since as a society we have become much more focused on immediate pleasure than doing what is best for each other. While hedonism may bring us the most amount of pleasure, it should not be seen as the ideal form of living. Perhaps people can find more pleasure in helping out during the holiday season rather than spending so much time on ourselves.

#hedonism

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