John R. Hoffman is a Professor of Biology, public speaker and a scientist examining the recovery of the nervous system after injury. Since 2006 he has written several unpublished manuscripts and he is currently working on the first Nathaniel Smythe novel and short story collection. He spends his spare time with his family and running.

07 Ethical Relativism and Moral Objectivism

Objectives:

By the end of this lecture, the student will be able to:

  1. Identify and provide examples of how different ethical systems can contribute to different responses to the same situation.

Part 1. Ethical Relativism

This mini-lecture introduces the principles of ethical relativism.  The handout for this presentation can be downloaded and printed.

Reading:

Chapter 2. Ethical Relativism. Pojman & Feiser (2009) Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong, pp. 14 – 29.

Part 2. Moral Objectivism

This mini-lecture introduces the ethical system of moral objectivism. The handout for this presentation can be downloaded and printed.

Reading:

Chapter 3 Moral Objectivism. Pojman & Feiser (2009) Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong, pp. 30 – 45.

Assignment: Ethics and the worlds’ oldest profession.
Prostitution is the providing of sexual services in return for payment.  The laws governing prostitution vary from society to society and even different locations within the same country (example: licensed prostitution in Nevada). In your discussion group, discuss the arguments for and against prostitution from the different ethical perspectives of: 1. subjective ethical relativism, 2. conventional ethical relativism, ,3. moral absolutism, 4. moral objectivism.  The first person to post on the thread gets to choose their perspective. They should identify their perspective and argue from their ethical viewpoint. The other members of the group will choose from the remaining viewpoints, identify their perspective and contribute to the discussion. This assignment will be graded based on maintaining your stated viewpoint throughout the discussion.

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