Ethical Relativism Essay

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Ethical Relativism In society, behavior of one’s person is always questioned if being ethical or not. The case study of “death row inmate set free” the questioning of ethics is involved. One ethical theory is ethical relativism. A definition of ethical relativism is that morality is relative to a society’s laws of their culture. In other words, what is determined what’s right or wrong of a person’s actions depends on the laws within that society.(Banks 2009) In different cultures, to judge a person on their actions of what is right or wrong varies in a fundamental nature because the norms of each culture varies. In relativism, we cannot criticize individuals of their different cultures, but it means that if an individual‘s actions were wrong or immoral, then we must judge that individual by the guidelines of their culture and not by our own. (Banks 2009) In understanding ethical relativism, relativist’s state that there is moral wrong and right, but state that what is wrong for one individual may be right for another individual. In the study of “death row inmate set free”, in our society norms, the action to murder another individual or to rob a business, that person is arrested for that crime committed, brought before a judge, and then sentenced a punishment from the Judge for breaking that law. Derrick Jamison committed the act of murdering Gary Mitchell based on the fact of his footprint at the scene of the crime and the witness’s statement. Also Charles Howell stated to law enforcement that the intentions of both individuals were to rob the business but that Derrick Jamison attacked the bartender. Both individuals, no matter what the crime was, the actions within their society norms and cultures were wrong and their actions must be judged by the guidelines of society’s norms. Within their society, both were arrested, and judgment was bought against them.
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