RELATIVISM AND MORALITY Week 2 Assignment
Sarah Knight
SOC120: Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibility Prof. Thomas Reeder
November 4, 2013

Relativism and Morality
Moral choices are conducted on a daily basis, by every culture, which can be viewed on an ethical scale of right or wrong, by other cultures. In her writing of “Some Moral Minima”, Lenn E. Goodman views several aspects of morality and relativism, and argues that certain things are just wrong. In presenting my own morals, I agree with this statement; however, pondering the image, that only one accurate ethic exists and that we may be able to find universal moral requirements and arrive at a multiethnic agreement on issues presented by Goodman is a parable. In this paper, I will state my opinion on challenges Goodman presents to relativism. I will also provide my thoughts on if there are such universal moral requirements.
In Goodman’s initial area of discussion of “Some Moral Minima; Genocide, Famine, and Germ Warfare (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”, she states “Genocide targets individuals as members of a group, seeking to destroy a race, a culture, a linguistic or ethnic identity (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”. I reflect back to after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were made on The United States. The threat of germ warfare became a very real aspect of war for our nation. Governmental groups, that we were at war against, were considering the decision to use this type of weapon in order to defeat their enemies in larger numbers. With their belief that this was the right way to win the war against us is a case in point of relativism. Majority of Americans viewed this method of war as wrong. Goodman also states, “Wholesale murder is wrong, then, not just for its scale but also for willfully negating individuality, typing its victims, and stirring hatred against the putative failings of the type (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”. With this statement, I am in agreement with Goodman. After the 9-11 attacks, many labeled American Muslims as terrorists simply because they were Muslims like the terrorist who bestowed the attacks. This was no different from those terrorist believing that each American that was killed that day held the same beliefs the Al-Qaeda were fighting against.
When discussing the topics genocide, famine, and germ warfare, Goodman delivers a great argument on why genocide would be better off if it were considered universally immoral. She declares, “Escalating violence strips away moral barriers and blocks the view of faces (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”. However, Goodman also provides the argument that “warfare is not always wrong (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”, Yet, she does continue on to write “war is suspect: Its dynamic to readily escapes control through the illusion that weapons are only tools and war itself just another device, the natural extension of diplomacy (Goodman, L.E., 2010).” I do feel uncomfortable with war being related to anything natural and can relate to her opinion; however, this opinion is not relative to every culture.
The second part of morality and relativism that Goodman argues is “terrorism, hostages and child warriors (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”. Reflecting on the reading, “Terrorists explode the values they claim to fight for; their victims blood blurs and blots whatever ends were meant to justify the carnage (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”. In Iraq, this happens on a daily basis. While it is hard to comprehend that this type of conduct is of acceptance among Al-Qaeda’s vision of Islam, groups of people are being killed because of suicide bombers. They also instill this belief within their children and teach them to be child warriors. It is of their belief that this is what their God desires. If terrorism and warfare were believed to be of wrongdoing, universally, these types of instances could be eluded or at best decreased. I have come to trust that having a better understanding and acceptance of other religions there would be less terrorism, hostages and child warriors as people would have a less ethnocentric view of other cultures.
“Slavery, polygamy, and incest (Goodman, L.E., 2010)” are the next focus in Goodman’s paper. “Slavery is the deepest exploitation, overriding subject hood to make a person a tool for use (Goodman, L.E., 2010).” A lot of people accept that slavery existed and was put to an end; however, slavery still exists today. Human trafficking is one of the biggest forms of slavery found within our society. The international trafficking of women and children for the use of labor or sex has been under scrutiny for some time. In some ethical virtues, polygamy is also considered as a method of slavery. Goodman argues, “In polygamous societies women become acquisitions—displays of wealth or status, objects of enjoyment, means of reproduction, providers of childcare and domestic labor (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”. Goodman goes on to discuss Rape and Clitoridectomy in the fourth section. She says that “Rape is exploitative, objectifying, and, yes, again violative. But what it violates is not just another’s body but that other’s personhood, invested, deeply in one’s sexuality (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”. Without any hesitation, I agree with Goodman’s opinions of the subjects at hand. I believe there is never a situation that can be deliberated as a commendable time to kill just to kill, molest for sexual gratification, or eliminate someone’s moralities just to gain fortune or reverence.
Goodman states, “If we hope to sift style from substance, and discredit the willful muddling of the two that makes the unfamiliar look exotic, then we are looking not just for family resemblances or a behavioral lowest common denominator, but for moral threads and themes that can anchor norms to recognizably objective values (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”. In broad-spectrum of the word, relativism is the reference to a variety of diverse thoughts. Moral relativism affirms the fact of morality not being centered on one complete custom. It can be centered on an individual’s faith and the beliefs that were instilled in them, as normal, by those who raised him or her.
When we view cultures that exist worldwide, we come to realize that there is a multitude of drastically different ethic codes. To me the strongest relative phrase within “Some Moral Minima” is when Goodman writes, “Certain things are simply wrong (Goodman, L.E., 2010)”. I say this because while the issues she presents may be relative as wrong to her ethics, many cultures view these “issues” as a way of life and it is relative to their standards of living.
If the four themes that Goodman debated were universally surveyed, I think that plenty of wars could have been, and, for future reference, be avoided. It is nice to think of how united the world would be if we all had universal moral requirements. However, we cannot agree on many of these issues within our own country, let alone the entire world. As I stated earlier in this paper, pondering the image, that only one accurate ethic exists and that we may be able to find universal moral requirements and arrive at a multiethnic agreement on these issues is, in my belief, a parable.

REFERENCES
Goodman, L. E. (2010). Some Moral Minima. Good Society Journal, 19(1), 87-94.