Contemporary Issues and Ethical Theory

Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues

Ethics are generally relative to a person's culture, but not so much to an individual, although there are exceptions. This comes about because people, even though they are clearly individuals, are also significantly affected by the culture of which they are a part (Becker & Becker, 2002). The cultures, however, are often very different, and many of the ethics that are part of a particular culture do not translate to another culture (Fagothey, 2000). This is often why people who are attempting to do business globally have trouble, or commit an unintentional faux pas. They do not realize the differences between cultures, which can be quite pronounced (Fagothey, 2000). Many of these cultural differences are insignificant, but the ones that deal with ethics and ethical behaviors can become problematic for people who are interacting with other cultures for business or pleasure (Becker & Becker, 2002). Additionally, there are people within those cultures who will have ethics that will vary from the cultural norm, either by a little, or sometimes by a great deal.

Because that is the case, it can be difficult to determine what a person feels is ethically correct, and/or how that person will treat others based on both personal and cultural ethics (Fagothey, 2000). While much can be learned about a culture and its ethics, the outliers and evolution of the people and the culture will always be something that is very difficult to pin down in any way. That is why relativism can work as a universal theory. It makes the most sense, because it espouses the idea that points-of-view are subjective and relative, and do not have any value beyond that (Fagothey, 2000). The differences that people have in consideration and perception are vital to address where relativism is concerned (Fagothey, 2000). Whether something is relative to a specific situation or a person does not mean it is believed to be relative to anything or anyone else. This is the concept that relativism offers, as it is not universal in the way in which it is applied.

Even though relativism can work well as a universal theory, this does not mean that there are universal principles related to it. The individual applications that are a part of relativism are the most "universal" thing about it (Fagothey, 2000). In other words, the idea that each person takes relativism as an individual issue and does with it what they will makes it universal in that sense, but there is no actual universal use for it. It is fundamentally unable to be universal, simply because it is something that implies no universality in how people do things, handle things, or conduct their lives (Becker & Becker, 2002). When people in one culture cannot even agree on ethical requirements and rules that are followed by everyone, it is not possible to assume that there will be universal options that would apply to all cultures. This goes against the ways cultures are formed and cultivated, and also against the overarching concept of the individual.