Absolutism v. Relativism
Absolutism and relativism represent the extreme ends of the ethical discussion of reality (Harman, 2000). They describe the approach that individuals adopt to make value decisions in their lives. Values are the sustenance of human life that provide passion and meaning and are often the motivation that keeps society cooperating toward a common goal. How these values are determined, however, is not done consistently throughout society (Bloomfield, 2003). On the one end of the spectrum are the absolutists who view every ethical situation in life as being a certainty while on the other end are the relativists who view things much more subjectively. For the relativist, nothing is certain.
For the moral absolutist there is a single or universal standard that is equally applicable to everyone. The absolutist believes that there is one moral law all must obey and that there are no gray areas. Everything...
Locke v. Berkeley The philosophers John Locke and George Berkeley offer stark contrasts on the issue of various matters. Locke's whose viewpoint can best be classified as based in relativism. He believed that all knowledge come from the senses. As every man's senses are unique, no two individuals will sense the same experience the same and, therefore, all knowledge is different in each individual. By extension, there is no such thing
Because so many mortgage companies and lending institutions pass of the debts represented by their loans to third parties, there is little incentive to ensure that borrowers actually qualify for loans based on their income and credit history the way might where the original lending institution must absorb the cost of eventual default. Throughout the mortgage industry, practices evolved where realtors and mortgage brokers actively encouraged borrowers to misrepresent their
tomorrow / Bright before us / Like a flame. (Alain Locke, "Enter the New Negro," 1925) From the 1920's Alain Leroy Locke has been known as a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Through his writings, his actions and his education, Locke worked to educate not only White America, but also the Negro, about the beauty of the Negro heritage. He emphasized the idea that no single culture is more
Yet Ana and her family also sought the intervention of traditional doctors or curanderos. The curandero provides services that a Western doctor cannot: the cleansing ceremony referred to in the case study is a perfect example of differences in attitudes toward health care. A healing ceremony performed by a curandero is not likely to harm the infant and in fact may prove beneficial at least to the parents' and
Legislating Morality The ideas of Thomas Hobbes, the influential English philosopher who lived in the late 1500s to middle 1600s, are still considered important today. Hobbes is best remembered for his ideas on political philosophy. While Hobbes throughout his life championed the idea of absolutism for the sovereign he also is responsible for many of the fundamentals of Western political thought such as equality of men, individual rights, and the idea
Purpose of Text and Intended Audience Written for a Christian audience ill at ease in the dominant culture, Francis Schaeffer traces European or “Western” civilization through a Biblical lens. The purpose of the text is twofold. One of the main functions of the text is to provide an alternative view of history and of Western civilization. While European history can never avoid direct discussions of the role religion has played in
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