Graded Absolutist Ethical System

This paper is going to discuss Ethics and Ethical Theories. It will include an introduction to ethical theories, virtue ethics, and care ethics. There will be sections discussing absolutism versus relativism, consequentialism versus deontological ethics, and lastly, free will versus determinism. It will also include a discussion about the study of morality and identify which of the approaches (Scientific, Philosophical, or Theological/Religious) are closest to my own personal beliefs. There will be a discussion regarding the three sources of ethics

People from all walks of life face many ethical dilemmas. These dilemmas have consequences. Our worldview determines how we deal with these dilemmas, and guides us to the right decisions. In this essay, I will examine an ethical issues through my Christian worldview. I will also present other viewpoints, and compare them to mine.

Moral Absolutism is concerned with right and wrong behavior. The absolute is what controls whether the action or behavior is right or wrong. Therefore, from the position of moral absolute, some things are always right and some things are always wrong no matter how one try to rationalize them. Moral absolutism materializes from a theistic worldview. Ethical Absolutists can condemn practices such as the Nazi harassment of the Jews because Absolutist views give definite guidelines as to what is right and wrong.

“We have a moral responsibility to disobey any law that conflicts with the law of god.” (Paragraph 16)

Although all of the ethical systems determine ones behavior and reasoning. They also have different ways in how they determine

The other five major ethical systems are Religion, Natural Law, The Ethics of Virtue, The Ethics of Care and Egoism. To first start off Religion is the most used source for individual ethics. Religion gives people a sense of knowing exactly what is right and wrong because there are guidelines to religion. For example there are the Ten Commandments that a majority of the religions use to set a standard or guideline to how they should live their life. Natural Law has no ties to any religious figures but does have a universal set of things that are right and wrong and close to those of the religious beliefs. Natural Law is where what is natural in the world is what sets morality, and that what is natural is good. An example would be that humans socialize and that leads to good deeds and that is natural and moral. Natural Law and Religion are a Deontological system because there are some things that come naturally to humans that may look like a good act it may have

In regards to choosing which ethical system, Polston provides a detailed overview of which absolutism is the best to follow. Graded absolutism believes that there are real moral conflicts (Geisler, 2010, p. 115). Real moral conflicts for Christians are appearing daily and the most recent event concerning Kim Davis a country clerk who has refused to hand out same sex marriage certificates. For her actions a judge has ordered to be jailed by U.S. District Judge David Bunning. As Proverbs 18:22 (NIV) says, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” For Davis, the issue came down to following civil law or adhering to God’s moral law. By adhering to the standards of graded absolutism then, anyone in Kim Davis’s

Every day we are faced with certain situations that challenge us with how to act in an ethical manner. It can be human nature to feel unsure or conflicted with the correct moral choice. Some can say that one should know how to handle such dilemmas and others may say that there should be a reference of some sort to help guide through such conflicts. Sometimes we know the answers and sometimes we are unsure of how to handle certain situations. Most times we go through life wondering what we should do. As I become further educated on the different theories of ethics, I believe there are answers that are available in guiding one through an ethical dilemma and or judgment. I will discuss Vincent Ruggiero’s three basic criteria, Robert Kegan’s order of consciousness, the three schools of ethics and the correlation between all three.

1.Summarize Romans 3:20-26. Following the law will not make one righteous as the knowledge is sin is from the law as the righteousness of God is apart from the law yet is confirmed by it and came through by the faithfulness of Christ. All have fallen short of glory yet are treated righteously for the ransom paid by Christ through the faithfulness that God had by showing mercy through the sacrifice of his son. This was done to show the righteousness that God has in the present time and to treat the Christian as righteous (Romans 3:20-26, Common English Bible). 2.Summarize

The ethical theory of moral absolutism has raised many arguments since Plato produced the Theory of the Forms. Philosophers have argued over it for centuries; whether it is correct, whether we should be absolutists or relativists or whether we bypass both of these theories and decide our actions based on virtuous people.

I would disagree with your statement that moral absolutism with exceptions is moral relativism. Moral relativism in the individual sense leads to everyone being their own moral compass to guide them, which would lead to chaos. It is not base on any absolute morals except freedom. Cultural moral relativism is what you are describing in your reply post, but it does not take into account the fact that there are morals which are common in all cultures. How can there be moral absolutes like mass murder is wrong, but have moral relativism as the standard? Would is stand to reason if there are moral absolutes, then moral absolutism exists?

There are a variety of ethical systems that are in existence. These include systems such as ethical formalism, utilitarianism, natural law, teleological and deontological, and many more and variations of each. The deontological and teleological are among the most interesting perspectives. The deontological ethical system is primarily concerned with the inherent nature of the act being judged while the teleological approach mainly focuses on the outcomes of actions.

When conflicts such as moral contradictions and inconsistencies arise, conversations including ethics and moral reasoning is the only way to solve these inconsistencies. Those who are genuine devotees of a certain religion may question if their religion’s moral instructions make sense according to one another. In these distinct cases, intelligent resolution of the claims can only be sorted out by putting in place an unbiased standard that can classify the competing viewpoints. This is where ethics comes in as the neutrality in the form of critical thinking, proficient arguments, and careful analysis.

Ethical relativism and ethical absolutism are two differing theories on how we ought to or ought not to decide on right from wrong. We question and evaluate morality in the terms of right and wrong constantly throughout life. The moral values that we decide to indoctrinate into our everyday lives are strongly motivated by cultural constraints in the eyes of some, to include anthropologist Dr. Ruth Benedict. Ethical relativism is defined as moral values being strongly dependent on time, place, and standards of a given culture. A contrasting theory to relativism is absolutism. The concept of a single, unwavering moral code used by all humans universally is absolutism. Dr. Christina Hoff-Sommers is an American philosopher who supports the idea of basic moral values and virtues based on absolutism. As humans we all have a duty to treat each other with a baseline of morality, while striving to improve character within our cultural environments.

The word absolutism may discuss to philosophical perspective which creates ideas of absolute fact, concerning arguments that is specific dominions of beliefs. The moral absolute like “Do not kill” can be larger or smaller than another moral absolute, like “Do not lie”. Moral absolutism is the ethical faith that there are absolute principles beside which ethical problems can be tried, and that certain deeds are right or wrong, irrespective of the background of the action.