consensus morality.ppt

7/25/2019 CONSENSUS MORALITY.ppt

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Moral Free SpaceTHE TERM MORAL FREE SPACE

IMPLIES THAT IT IS RIGHT AND

PROPER FOR COMMUNITIES TO

SELF-DEFINE SIGNIFICANT ASCEPTS

OF THEIR BUSINESS MORALITY.

* CULTURAL DIVERSITY IS

EMPHASISED AND ANY SUCH THING

AS 'HUMAN ESSENCE' IS REJECTED.


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HYPERNORMS:

HYPERNORMS ARE SECOND-ORDER

MORAL CONCEPTS. THEY

REPRESENT NORMS SUFFICIENTLYFUNDAMENTAL TO SERVE AS A

SOURCE OF EVALUATION AND

CRITICISM OF COMMUNITY-

GENERETED NORMS.


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On the other side there is

the cosmopolitans, whodefend the universalcharacter of human

experience.


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Our aim here is to show byrecognizing the diverse communities

and de- recognizing the fact that one-size -fit-all suit of clothes,one canevolve a universal principles andvalues that is common to all people

that is based on a reflection on thedeepest sources of human ethicalexperience.


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CONSENSUS ORALITY

This comes to limit relativism byplacing restraints based on

internationally or universallyaccepted ethical rights. TheUnited Nations, public opinion inthe democratic states and the

decisions of area blocs attempt toimpose such limits.


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Civil rights, the

environment and childprotection are some of theareas in which much good

has been done by suchconsensus morality.


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RELATIVIS IS NOT THE

ANSWER

One answer to this uestion is asold as philosophical discussion,

and as old as !ophistry. "ts label is#cultural relativism$ and it is a viewthat holds that no culture has abetter ethics than any other, and

that, in turn, there are nointernational #rights$ and #wrongs$.


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"f Thailand tolerates the bribery ofpublic officials, then Thai tolerance

is no worse than %apanese or

&erman intolerance. "f !witzerlandfails to find insider trading morally

repugnant, then !wiss liberality is

no worse than U.!. fair'mindedness.


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The concept of cultural

relativism is fairly simple to

grasp, and unfortunately, fairlytempting when business

opportunities are at sta(e.


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"n the final analysis, relativism must

be re)ected. *erhaps its main

problem is that not all culturaldifferences lie at the fairly

inconseuential level of insider

trading or petty bribery.


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"f one seriously maintains the view of

cultural relativism, one must be prepared

to tolerate all cultural differences. "f onestate endorses piracy +as some in history

have, then one must grant piracy the

same moral status as a doctrine of anti'

piracy. Or consider the dramatic exampleof crime prevention in ancient -ome.


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There it was the practice to (ill all

the slaves in a household evenwhen one slave murdered themaster. ll slaves were lined upand summarily executed without

trial.


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They were executed whether theywere young or old, male or female,

and whether or not they wereinvolved in, or had any (nowledgeabout, the murder. "n some instancesinvolving large households, the

practice resulted in the execution ofthree and four hundred innocentpersons.


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/hile the practice was )ustified onthe grounds that it deterred future

plots against the master, few of ustoday could embrace suchreasoning. nd in the light ofheinous practices such as this, few

us can cling to theoretical relativismthat would tolerate these or evenworse practices.


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0ence, if we re)ect relativism inthe extreme instances, then

morality in the international

sphere must be something morethan an unprincipled, #do'what'

the'native'do$ underta(ing.


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"t does not follow that alluestions of moral differencesamong cultures can be solved bymeasuring them against a rigid,universal yardstic(. 1ut it meansthat morality has some, albeit

imperfect, relevance totranscultural contexts.

consensus morality.ppt

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