CULTURE

Our exposure to different societies and their

cultures makes us aware that there are ways of
thinking and valuing that are different from our
own, that there is in fact a wide diversity of how
different people believe it is proper to act. There
are aesthetic differences (Japanese art vs. Indian
art), religious differences (Buddhism vs.
Christianity), and etiquette differences (conflicting
behaviors regarding dining practices). In these
bases, it may become easy to conclude that this is
the case in ethics as well.
From the reality of diversity, it is possible for
someone to jump to the further claim that the
sheer variety at work in the different ways of
valuation means there is no single universal
standard for such valuations, and that this
holds true as well in the realm of ethics.
Therefore, what it is ethically acceptable or
unacceptable is relative to, or that is to say,
dependent on one’s culture. This position is
referred to as cultural relativism.
• SENSES OF THE SELF
• It is sometimes thought that one should not rely on any
external authority to tell oneself what the standards of moral
valuation are, but should instead turn inwards. In this section,
we will look into three theories about ethics that center on the
self: subjectivism, psychological egoism, and ethical egoism.
SUBJECTIVISM
The starting point of subjectivism is the recognition that the
individual thinking person (the subject) is at the heart of all
moral valuations. She is the one who is confronted with the
situation and is burdened with the need to make a decision or
judgment. From this point, subjectivism leaps to the more
radical claim that the individuals is the sole determinant of
what is morally good or bad, right or wrong. A number of
clichés are familiar to us would echo this idea:
“No one could tell me what is right and wrong.”
“No one knows my situation better than myself.”
“I am entitled to my own opinion.”
“It is good if I say that it is good.
 • PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM
Let us consider another cliché. “Human beings are
naturally self-centered, so all our actions are always already
motivated by self-interest.”
ETHICAL EGOISM
Ethical egoism differs in psychological
egoism in that it does not suppose all our
actions are already inevitably self-serving.
Instead, ethical egoism prescribes that we
should make our own ends, our own
interests, as the single overriding concerns.
We may act in a way, that is beneficial to
others, but we should do that only if it
ultimately benefits us.