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Lesson No.5 On Determinism and Relativism

Determinism believes that all things are pre-determined and there is no free will. Therefore, under determinism a person cannot be held morally responsible for their actions as they have no control over them. Relativism believes that morality is subjective and there are no universal moral values. According to relativism, what one person sees as moral may be seen as immoral by another, so objective morality does not exist.

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55 views8 pages

Lesson No.5 On Determinism and Relativism

Determinism believes that all things are pre-determined and there is no free will. Therefore, under determinism a person cannot be held morally responsible for their actions as they have no control over them. Relativism believes that morality is subjective and there are no universal moral values. According to relativism, what one person sees as moral may be seen as immoral by another, so objective morality does not exist.

Uploaded by

Shiang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ON DETERMINISM AND

RELATIVISM
LESSON NO.5
Philosophers have long since debated
whether morality is really possible or not. There
are those who view morality as a matter of
individual judgment and that there are no
common or universal moral obligation. There is
also a need to confront those who deny free-will
or those who ask how there can be any absolute
basis of morality if all things, including human
choices, are completely pre-determined.
DETERMINISM

Determinists view all things as causally determined; that is, for anything
that happens, it could not have happened otherwise. If it is true that all things
are determined, this must also apply to the human innate capacity of willing
and choosing, thus, denying free-will. It is not clear whether morality
presupposes freewill. What sense would there be in talking about morality and
moral responsibility if one did not and cannot choose and act freely in the first
place? In establishing blame or guilt, even in legal contexts, it is important to
ascertain whether the doer was forced or not. Freewill, thus, is a condition for
responsible, moral actions. The fact that man is in no control over his actions,
whether good or evil, has no bearing on such actions being good or evil.
DETERMINISM

To Summarize, Determinists believes:

1. That all things are determined (Pre-Destined, Planned)


2. There is no such thing as FREE WILL.

Thus, the fact that man is in no control over his actions, whether
good or evil, has no bearing on such actions being good or evil.

NOTE: This does not necessarily apply in legal context only in moral
and ethical context.
DETERMINISM

Therefore, if a man kills someone, that man has no moral


obligation since the person who was killed was destined to
die in such manner and the person who killed that person had
no free will on doing such action since what have happened
must happen.
RELATIVISM

“Man is the measure of all things,” has become so common that, although
Protagoras did not intend to make this statement as a basis for morality,
throughout the development of ethics such statement is always applied.
Ethical relativism denies that there are common or universal or objective moral
values. It insists, rather, that moral values are subjective. One of the arguments
given is that of ethical views and opinions being conditioned by circumstances.
What one thinks as good may depend upon his upbringing, education,
religious instruction, and even ethnic background. The challenge of relativism
is that, since how we make sense of our moral quests and moral disputes is
purely relative, morality possess no objective or absolute status beyond the
individual’s own notions.
RELATIVISM

To Summarize, Relativism believes that:


1. “Man is the measure of all things,”
2. There are NO common or universal or objective moral values.
3. Moral values are subjective.
4. Ethical views and opinions being conditioned by circumstances.
5. Good may depend upon his upbringing, education, religious
instruction, and even ethnic background.

The challenge of relativism is that, morality possess no objective or


absolute status beyond the individual’s own notions.
RELATIVISM

Therefore, if a male stranger kisses a woman in public and tells that


woman that he believes that kissing a woman in public is the most
respectful thing a man can do, then that male stranger cannot hold
himself immoral for such an act even if the woman disagrees.

Note: The problem here is that the woman also hold her own moral
perception and notion of kissing, especially by a stranger. Hence, the
man is moral in his own perception, but immoral in the eyes of the
woman.

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