Blog Assignment #6

-Part One-

QUESTION #1: If an action that is praised in one culture may be condemned in another, would it be correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in?
I believe that all moral values are realitive to the culture they are found in. A huge part of ethics is your personal experiences and your upbringing, and an individual's culture helps shape a person's morals. So to say all moral values are relative to culture would be an accurate statement. One culture may look at what another culture's customs are and say that the action is unethical, but that same cultures view on the same subject may be viewed unethical or unmoral by some other culture. For example, in some cultures they have arranged marriges, which is a celebrated and common action. In other societies they see this as unmoral and unusual.

P:Moral values are heavily influenced by an individual's upbringing.

P: There are many different views on one action varying by each different culture.

C: Therefore, it is correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in

QUESTION #2: Isn’t it a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures or to claim that one culture is better than another?
It is a mark of ignorance to pass judgements on other cultures or to claim that one culture is better than the other because your view on a culture is influenced by your own personal experiences and ethics. An individual may say that one culture is better because it has better moral values, but someone else may view the same values differently and not agree with the individual.To pass judgement on other cultures is also a mark of ignorance because your not taking into account the other culter's moral views and customs. So basically if you were to say one culture is better than others, then that is your own belief shaped by your own ethical standards, and it would be ignorant to push your own believes on others by passing judgement on them.

P:An individual's view on a culture is influenced by their own personal experiences.

P:To pass judgement , you wouldn't take into account other culture's moral views or customs.

C: Therefore, it is a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures

-Part Two-

In some cultures, mutilation is considered an appropriate punishment for certain crimes. For example, if a man is caught stealing then his hand is choped off. Since such a punishment is not heard of in our culture, we tend to consider it morally insupportable and unethical. I belive that if cut a man's hand off for stealing it is unethical because you should never have a right to mutalate and cut another person's hand or body part off. Jail time is an adequate and more ethical punishment for the crime.

Arguable issue: Is mutilation an appropriate punishment for certain crimes?

P: Mutilating another human is wrong, no matter what.

P:Jail time is an adequate and more ethical punishment for certain crimes.

P:The severity of the punishment does not fit the crime.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C:Mutilation is not an appropriate punishment for certain crimes.