Unit 3
Warranted assumptions –
which are reasonable and good to hold
Example: - when we see a driver coming towards us with the turn signal on, we have a good
reason to believe that the driver will turn
Unwarranted assumptions –
Unreasonable and taken for granted without any good reason
They often prevent us from seeing things clearly
Example: - our attraction towards someone makes us believe that he/she feels in the same
way and interpret their words incorrectly
Stereotype: -
One of the common types of unwarranted assumption is stereotype
Stereotype comes from the printing era, when plates or stereotype were used to produce
identical of one page
Now, it is used to assume individual peoples those who have all been stamped from one
plate
It refers to forming an opinion of someone that is not based on his/her individual qualities
but rather on the basis of his/her membership to a particular group
Stereotype are assumed through Hasty generalization
Hasty generalization- one draws a conclusion about a large class of things from a small
sample
Example: - if we find one south berginan to be rude, we conclude that all the south bergians
are rude.
Relativistic thinking
Janie: Professor X, 1 don't understand why you gave me a D on this paper.
Prof: X: Well, as 1 noted in my written comments, you state your opinions, but you don't offer any
reasons to back them up.
Janie: Do you mean you gave me a low grade because you disagree with my opinions?
Prof. X: No, not at all, Janie. You received a low grade because you didn’t give any reasons to support
your opinions.
Janie: But isn’t everyone entitled to his or her own opinion
Here, Janie holds relativistic thinking
Relativism - It is the view that truth is a matter if opinion
There are two types of relativism – subjectivism and cultural relativism
TYPES OF RELATIVISM
SUBJECTIVISM CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Subjectivism: -
It is of the view that truth is a matter of individual opinion
According to subjectivism, whatever an individual believes is true, is true for that person,
and there is no thing as “absolute truth” or “objective”
Example: - bobby believes in abortion is wrong whereas Alice believes it’s not wrong always.
So, according to subjectivism, both opinions are right for them
Truth for one individual or another is the only kind of truth there is.
Cultural relativism: -
It views truth as a matter of social or cultural opinion
It is the view that what is true for person “A” is what person “A” culture or society believes is
true
Example: - drinking wine is common in France but is considered to be wrong in Iran.
Therefore, in Iran it is immoral but for France it is morally permissible
There is no “absolute truth” or “objective”
“What is true is whatever most people in a society or culture believe to be true
Moral Relativism
Most common form of relativism
MORAL RELATIVISM
MORAL SUBJECTIVISM MORAL CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Moral subjectivism
It is the view that what is morally right and good for an individual, A, is whatever A believes
is morally right and good
Example: - if Andy believes premarital sex is wrong and Jennifer believes is not wrong, then,
according to moral subjectivism, for Andy premarital sex is wrong and for Jennifer is not
wrong.
cultural moral relativism: -
The view that what is morally right and good for an individual, A, is whatever A’s society or
culture believes is morally right and good
Example: - if A believes that polygamy is wrong and B believes polygamy is right, then, it is
due to their culture
Cultural moral relativism is popular view today because –
1. Nature of moral disagreement
2. Value of tolerance
Nature of moral disagreement
Ethics is different from maths and science
In maths and science, there are arguments and disagreements but not nearly to the extent
as in ethics
In ethics, there are widespread disagreements, there are deep and are hard to resolve them
in a rational way
This shows that some people conclude, is that there is no objective truth in ethics; mortality
is just a matter of individual or societal opinion
To value tolerance
Cultural moral relativism value and support tolerance
Throughout history, wars, persecutions and act of religious have been perpetuated by the
people who firmly believed in the absolute righteousness of their moral belief and practices
However, cultural moral relativism tells us to tolerant towards each other culture
Example:-
If culture A believes that polygamy is wrong, and culture B believes that it is right, then
culture A must agree that polygamy is right for culture B, no matter how offensive the
practice may be to culture A
Important problems with cultural moral relativism: -
1. Makes it impossible to for us to criticize other culture’s customs and beliefs, even though they
are terribly wrong.
Example: - if one’s culture is to practice slavery, child sacrifice, etc, then, we can’t criticize it
because one’s culture believes those practices are morally right
2. Makes it’s impossible for us to criticize our own societies’ customs and values.
Example: - if “A” personally opposes racial segregation but a majority of A’s society supports it,
then, according to relativism, “A” must change his thoughts and agree with the society’s opinion.
According to relativism, anyone who criticizes the majority’s opinion are always wrong.
Total conformity to majority opinion is required
3. Relativism rules out moral progress :0
Moral values can change, but if relativism is true, then, they can never become better or worse,
for relativism implies that what is right for the society is what that culture believes right at that
time.
Example: - a relativist cannot say, that abolition of slavery or laws outlawing gender
discrimination represented moral progress in the US
4. Relativism led to conflicting moral duties
It can occur due to 😊: -
a. When a relativist is a member of a society that holds a belief that is against the moral relativism.
For example: - if the society believes that the child sacrificing is absolutely and objectively right,
then, as a member of society and moral relativist, A must believe that child sacrificing is
absolutely and objectively right.
b. When relativist belong two or more cultures and those cultures hold mutually inconsistent moral
beliefs
Example: - An Amish is a farmer in Ohio, for instance, would seem to be member of both an
Amish culture and a larger American one. Such dual membership exists and at times conflict can
clearly arise occur between two moral codes.
Wishful thinking; -
