The Relative values Are those that vary depending on the situation and variables of the person such as social class, nationality, age or personal experiences.
According to relativism , Also called moral relativism, moral values that guide the behavior of humans change taking into account social, cultural, historical, religious, legal, political, among others, that prevail in a country or community.
For example, the values that predominate in a high-class individual, socially, politically and economically privileged, will not necessarily be the same ones that predominate in an individual belonging to a socially excluded and marginalized minority social group; The moral values of a Catholic are not the same as a Muslim. From this point of view, the values are, therefore, relative.
Many people discuss the existence of relative values, arguing that values are characterized by being universal, concrete and objective.
To justify this position, they point out that values are"common and universal ideas"that can vary in insignificant aspects from one culture to another, but whose essence remains at the bottom.
In this regard, the sophists (of sophistry, philosophical current that initiated in Ancient Greece) defend the position of relativism in terms of values.
In this sense, the Sophists indicate that the ethical and Moral Are simple conventions that are established between human societies.
This means that what is beneficial to one society may not be beneficial to another; It is here that the relativity of values arises.
Examples of relative values
Moral values are a set of beliefs and guidelines that guide the behavior of human beings and allow them to differentiate between good and evil.
However, deciding what is good and what is wrong depends on many factors: the concrete situation that is present, the people involved, among others.
The differentiation between good and evil varies from country to country and from culture to culture, and depends on the set of ideas and beliefs instilled in an individual. In this sense, the concept of relative moral values arises.
Next, we present two situations in which the relativity of moral values is evidenced.
Situation # 1: Honesty
Let's take as base situation that a person is fleeing from another person and, incidentally, we have seen where this person is fleeing.
The individual who is looking for this person asks us if we know where he went. So what do we do: do we say where the person is or hide the information?
In the situation presented, we lack information that tells us how to proceed, so we will add more details.
Suppose we live in the twentieth century, 1943, in Nazi Germany where Jews are persecuted because of their religion.
Then we see a Jew fleeing from inhumane treatment during the last years of his life and ending up in a concentration camp if he is caught; A member of the Gestapo who is following this Jew asks us if we know where he has fled.
In this case, what do we do? Are we honest and point to where the Jew fled or lie, allowing him to escape a life of suffering?
The ethics Tells us that we must be honest at all times. However, the moral thing in this case would be to lie, since the behavior of the Gestapo and the Nazi regime in general is amoral.
Now, if the person who fled is a thief who is being pursued by the police, the most correct thing is to be honest and say where the thief was headed.
In general terms, honesty is a positive element. However, it is not correct to reduce any value to the"fixed rule"condition. In order to apply honesty correctly, it is necessary to study situations in detail.
With these two examples it is seen that, although the general situation is the same, the actors vary, which also changes moral behavior. In this order of ideas, the relativity of moral values is evidenced.
Situation # 2: Respect for life
In this example, consider that an individual X caused the death of an individual Y. Was his behavior moral or immoral?
The Christian religion points out that one of the commandments of the law of God is"thou shalt not kill"; Then: can we say that the behavior of X is amoral? The answer is that it is relative and depends on the circumstances in which that act was carried out.
Imagine that individual X was being attacked by individual Y; X's life was in danger so he tried to defend himself and hit Y, who died accidentally.
In this case, X acted in self-defense while Y showed no respect for the lives of others by attacking X.
In this situation, we can say without a doubt that the assailant's behavior was amoral. For its part, we can not judge the victim, who only tried to safeguard his life.
Now, let's consider that X is an assailant and Y is the victim. In this case, the behavior of X is totally amoral because, by killing Y, it shows no respect for the lives of others.
Finally, let's imagine that X and Y are two soldiers on the war front.
Casualties during the war are not punishable by law as murders; In fact, many nations offer medals to their surviving soldiers for having demonstrated their bravery by defending the nation.
But the fact that it is legal to murder the soldiers of the opposing army during an armed confrontation, does it make these crimes moral?
The answer is no: crimes committed during the war remain amoral. However, this is a more complex issue than the situations raised in previous cases because it involves the interests of nations; And nations justify these actions by dehumanizing the individuals of the opposing army and noting that the acts committed were carried out to protect the country from the foreign threat.
References
- Moral relativism. Retrieved on June 14, 2017, from en.wikipedia.org.
- Are values such as relative morality instead of definite? Retrieved on June 14, 2017, from quora.com.
- Moral relativism. Retrieved on June 14, 2017, from iep.utm.edu.
- Moral relativism. Retrieved on June 14, 2017, from philosophybasics.com.
- Moral relativism. Retrieved on June 14, 2017, from plato.standford.edu.
- Moral relativism. Retrieved on June 14, 2017, from moral-relativism.com.
- What is moral relativism. Retrieved on June 14, 2017, from gotquestions.org.