Project-I

Report on
Relative
nature of
ethics
Submitted towards the partial fulfillment of
the requirement for Mid-term evaluation

Bachelor of
Technology
In
Computer Engineering

Submitted by

Abhisht Dixit
(2K20/B2/23)

Abhay
(2K20/B2/11)

Under the Supervision

Of
Mrs. Sushma
Priyadarshan

Delhi Technological
University Bawana Road.
Delhi -110042
 DECLARATION

We hereby certify that the work, which is presented in the Project-I

entitled “Relative Nature of Ethics” in fulfilment of the requirement for
Mid-Term Evaluation of Bachelor of Technology in Computer
Engineering is an authentic record of our own, carried out under the
supervision of Mrs. Sushma Priyadarshan The work presented in this
report has not been submitted and not under consideration for the award
for any other course/degree of this or any other Institute/University.

Name :- Abhisht Dixit Name :- Abhay

Roll Number:- 2K20/B2/23 Roll Number:- 2K20/B2/11

SUPERVISOR
CERTIFICATE

To the best of our knowledge, the report comprises original work and has not been submitted
in part or full for any Course/Degree to this university or elsewhere as per the candidate’s
declaration.

Place: Delhi Supervisor name and signature

Date: Mrs. Sushma Priyadarshan
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to express our greatest appreciation to the all
individuals who have helped and supported me throughout the project.
We are thankful to our teacher for his ongoing support during the
project, from initial advice, and provision of contacts in the first stages
through ongoing advice and encouragement, which led to the final
report of this project.

A special acknowledgement goes to our college friends who helped us

in completing the project by exchanging interesting ideas and sharing
their experience.

We wish to thank our parents as well for their undivided support and
interest who inspired me and encouraged us to go our own way,
without whom we would be unable to complete my project.

At the end, we thank our friends who displayed appreciation to the

work and motivated us to continue the work.

Thank You!
What is the meaning of Ethics?

So, ethics are the moral principles that governs a

person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity and
they depend upon many things.
 INDEX
❖ INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL RELATIVISM

❖ VARIATIONS OF ETHICAL RELATIVISM

❖ RELEVANCE OF ETHICAL RELATIVISM

❖ CRITICISMS OF ETHICAL RELATIVISM

❖ ETHICAL SUBJECTIVISM: A VIEW COMMONLY

CONFUSED WITH ETHICAL RELATIVISM

❖ ETHICAL RELATIVISM VS ETHICAL SUBJECTIVISM

❖ CONCLUSION
 Introduction to Ethical Relativism

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 moral norms of
the society in which it is practiced. The same action may
be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in
another.

For the ethical relativist, there are no universal moral

standards ,standards that can be universally applied to all
at all times. The only moral code against which a society's
practices can be examined are its own. If ethical
relativism is correct, there can be no common framework
for resolving moral disputes or for reaching in terms on
ethical matters among members of different societies.
Variations of Ethical Relativism-

There are three variations of Ethical Relativism-

Descriptive- Descriptive ethical relativism is merely the

positive or descriptive position that there exist, in fact,
fundamental disagreements about the right course of
action even when the same facts hold true and the same
consequences seem likely to arise.[5]

It is the observation that different cultures have different

moral standards.

Meta-ethical- Meta-ethical moral relativism is unpopular

among philosophers; many are quite critical of it, though
there are several contemporary philosophers who support
it.

Meta-ethical moral relativists believe not only that people

disagree about moral issues, but that terms such as
"good", "bad", "right" and "wrong" do not stand subject
to universal truth conditions at all; rather, they are relative
to the traditions, convictions, or practices of an individual
or a group of people.
 Normative- Normative moral relativists believe not only
the meta-ethical thesis, but that it has normative
implications on what we ought to do.

Normative moral relativists argue that meta-ethical

relativism implies that we ought to tolerate the behavior
of others even when it runs counter to our personal or
cultural moral standards.
Relevance of Ethical Relativism-

It is a very relevant topic in today’s world because Ethical

relativism reminds us that different societies have
different moral beliefs and that our beliefs are deeply
influenced by culture.

It also encourages us to explore the reasons underlying

beliefs that differ from our own, while challenging us to
examine our reasons for the beliefs and values we hold.
So, this topic in a way teaches us about cultural relativism
because of which allows any individual to say their moral
code without saying the moral code of other individuals.
Each person is separate in such a society. This separation
creates equality as each person can make their own saying
of success.

And also the concept of cultural relativism gives us a

unique perspective about almost anything like this is also
another reason why ethical relativism is such an
interesting topic to study for example if we consider the
example of north western UP there local population uses
the khari boli dialect of Hindi language in which people
uses the terms ‘tu’,’tujhse’ and ‘tere’ very commonly to
almost everyone informally but if a person from a region
like awadh where general population talks in accordance
with the famous ganga jamuni tehseeb where using word
like ‘aap’,’aapka’ is pretty common hear them out he/she
will for sure consider them rude but with the
understanding of concepts like ethical relativism and
cultural relativism they will be able to understand each
other and will respect each other.

Criticisms of Ethical Relativism

Perhaps the strongest criticism of ethical relativism comes

from those who assert that universal moral codes can exist
even if some moral practices and beliefs vary among
cultures but ethical relativism in a way completely tarnish
this idea as cultures all around the world practices many
different things and believes in many different customs
and traditions So agreeing on some cultural views will not
be fair for anyone because such things could lead to
favorism.

Another critique of Ethical Relativism is that it is actually

a very dangerous concept as it could justify very horrific
things on the grounds of cultural differences.

And Ethical Relativism also creates unstability in an

cosmopolitan society because there it will be difficult to
say what is wrong or what is right. And also in a wayit
tells us at ethics are just illusions and not concrete
concepts which is in a way very wrong to say as ethics
forms the basis for any good society.
 Ethical Subjectivism-

Ethical subjectivism is a type of moral anti-realism that

denies the metaphysical thesis of moral realism, (the
claims that moral are normal facts about the world).
Instead ethical subjectivism claims that morals are based
on the mental states of individuals or that of a group of
people.

And it is a completely different concept than Ethical

Relativism but sometimes both of them are confused to be
one and the same.

And by many it is considered as a very bad concept

because If Moral Subjectivism is correct, then two
individuals may have different moral judgments on the
same situation and both of them may be right.
Thus, Subjectivism fails to explain what is right
and wrong. Thus, Subjectivism leads us to inconsistent
judgments.
Ethical Subjectivism Vs Ethical
Relativism-

Ethical subjectivism is a completely different concept

from Ethical relativism. Ethical relativism claims that
statements are true or false based on who is saying them
and an ethical subjectivist will examine anything is right
or wrong on the mental state of the person who is saying
the statement.

For example a person who believes in transcendentalism

will think that if a deity say something is right than it is
right than that person will be considered a ethical
subjectivist but not a ethical relativist because according
to a relativist morality is same for everyone in same
culture but for a subjectivist morality depends upon the
mental states.
Conclusion-

Ethical relativism is a very relevant topic in today’s

Modern World as because of new technological
advancement world is quickly becoming a very small
place people could go from one place to another within no
time and when people from different cultural backgrounds
meets clashes are bound to happen but if we have to work
in peace we have to understand this concept of ethical
relativism as at the end we have to keep an open mind and
also we just not have to tolerate one another we have to
accept them because they were brought up in a different
culture that’s why there ethics and values are so different
from us, Ethical relativism may have some shortcomings
of its own and it in a way say that ethics are just an
illusion and are not concrete concepts.

At the end Ethical Relativism may be a very nice yet

dangerous concept on its own, dangerous in the sense that
it could lead us to believe in subjective relativism which
again is very dangerous for any society as it could justify
many horrific things but still it is a very relevant concept
and no one should deny it’s existence and in order to
overcome its shortcomings it should be taught with
special care in instituitions all around the world.