Moral Absolutism

quality of being human; the peculiar nature of man, by which he is distinguished from other

In attempting to reveal insight upon the first part of this two-fold question, one must first discern the meaning of human nature. According to the authoritative opinion of The Random House College Dictionary human nature is defined as; "the psychological and social qualities that characterize mankind." In assessing the psychological and social qualities of mankind, it was easy to find oneself consumed within the vastness of characteristical qualities for which humanity has been endowed. These qualities range from ignorance to knowledge; grief to joy; from incontinence to self-restraint; lust to perseverance; injustice to

What makes us who we are, what drives our personality? Is it driven by deep seeded sexual desires or is it something a bit more mundane, something that while we still have no control over, is easily studied?

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.

"Moral Objectivism: The view that what is right or wrong doesn"t depend on what anyone thinks is right or wrong. That is, the view that the 'moral facts ' are like 'physical ' facts in that what the facts are does not depend on what anyone thinks they are. Objectivist theories tend to come in two sorts:"(1)

To get a sense of what it is to be human, at least in the evolutionary world, we need only to compare our modern selves to our ancestors such as the Neanderthals. The Neanderthals were our closest hominin relative and died out thousands of years ago. Like us, they walked on two legs, hunted , made fire and tools, and lived in shelters (caves). They were more advanced than many of us imagine they were thanks to the way they are portrayed in the media. They had brains similar in size to ours, they stood fully upright (not hunched over), and had a surprisingly complex culture. When asked what it means to be human, you can compare many different aspects of our lives, such as biology, culture, and even religious beliefs. We obviously have

What makes us human? What makes us human is our curiosity and constant evolution. What makes us human is the ability to create social categories and to form opinions. Abstract emotions including love, thought and creativity are what make us human. In 1984, George Orwell uses his dystopia to show that if we were to abolish these abstract emotions we would cease to be human and become the simple primates we once were; surviving for the sake of survival.

James Rachels' article, "Morality is Not Relative," is incorrect, he provides arguments that cannot logically be applied or have no bearing on the statement of contention. His argument, seems to favor some of the ideas set forth in cultural relativism, but he has issues with other parts that make cultural relativism what it is.

Spikes from examiner.com describes graded absolutism as in moral conflicts, the dilemma is not that we are obligated to opposites, because greater absolutes are not opposites of lesser absolutes, and evil is not the opposite of good but, is instead the privation of good and since evil is the privation of good, only the privation of the greater good counts as evil, since whenever there is a moral conflict, we are only obligated to the greater good (Spikes, 2011). Unlike the other absolutisms, graded absolutism focuses on the moral laws as being absolute. The essential principles of graded absolutism are these: there are many moral principles rooted in the absolute moral character of God, there are higher and lower moral duties, moral laws sometimes come into unavoidable moral conflict and in

To be human is to be able think and learn without any restraints. To have an opinion all to one's self even if it my clash with someone else's. To be human is to have emotion. One must be able to smile, cry, laugh or shout without living in fear of the consequence. One must

Human nature is what tells us apart from each other and makes us distinctly human. Our nature and understanding is what makes us different from animals and other creations due to our ability to think and reason. No other creature on this earth has that given ability. Our reason gives us the upper hand and allows us to reflect on our nature and behaviors that allows us to make changes and transform. For example, when facing adversity, we have the choice to continue with our struggles or terminate the situation; if we witness someone else’s misfortune, we have the option to follow in their footsteps or avoid making the same mistake. Human nature, gives us the capability to express our emotions, love and connect. It also allows us to display emotions and actions that are not always appropriate like hate, rape, murder and war. Despite our positive sides, as humans we are capable of destruction, competiveness and greed. Although, I strongly feel that a person’s environment and upbringing will shape their life choices, it does not automatically define who they are or

Moral absolutism is an ethical theory which believes that there are absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged, and that certain actions are either right or wrong. Moral absolutists might, for example, judge slavery, war, dictatorship, the death penalty, or child abuse to be absolutely immoral regardless of the situations or beliefs of a culture that engages in these practices. Moral absolutism adopts the theory that certain actions are moral or immoral regardless of the circumstances in which they occur.

Although the case for neutral human morality is pretty straightforward there are two other views on the topic. The case that humans are innately good and the case that we are innately evil and must be taught better by religious or spiritual influences. This sentiment that people are sinful and need to be “saved” is common view shared by Christianity and other major religions. There are several parts of the bible that can be used to look at this assertion, in particular we will turn to the writings of St. Matthew. The Sermon on the Mount section from the gospel of St. Matthew is a speech given by Jesus to his disciples. The speech contains many famous beatitudes such as “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (St. Matthew 694). But it also contains Jesus speaking about how he has come not to destroy the law; but to fulfill it. In this section he makes claims such as: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment” (St. Matthew 695). There is nothing wrong here, we should definitely have laws that teach people not to kill. But he goes on the say “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (695). Normal people don’t just hate someone for no

A discussion of moral theories must begin with a discussion of the two extremes of ethical thinking, absolutism and relativism. Moral Absolutism is the belief that there are absolute standards where moral questions are judged and can be deemed right or wrong, regardless of the context. Steadfast laws of the universe, God, nature itself are the forces that deem an action right or wrong. A person’s actions rather than morals and motivations are important in an Absolutism proposition. Moral Relativism states, that the moral propositions are based on Ethical relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to the norms of one's culture. That is, whether an action is right or wrong depends on the

The nature of humankind has been explored endlessly. Human nature is the strangest thing on earth. Sometimes, some of them behave like they are the nicest and sometimes, at they are at their worst behavior. Human nature depends solely on the circumstances around them. Some chose to remain calm when they are in any trouble, but then at the same time, some chose to be aggressive. Some changes themselves according to the environment around them, yet some just chose to be how they are. Some chose to be themselves around people, yet some just don’t have much guts to show real them selves. Some like to be ruled yet some like to be a ruler. Every individual on this earth is different from another. They behave, think, act, and speak