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Institutional Affiliation
Argument against Relativism
The strongest argument against relativism in my opinion is the aspect of truth about an issue and the determinants of ethics. The reading by James Rachels about passive and active euthanasia presents the inadequacy of relativism by arguing against euthanasia based on the knowledge of truth about life and death. Specifically, Rachels gives an argument that relativism leads to the decision between life and death based on grounds that are irrelevant (Rachels, 2013). Mosser (2013) believes that the basis of moral relativism is leaving a decision such as about life and death to be interpreted by cultures differently.
One of the reasons why Rachels asserts that relativism is inadequate is that it lets people decide what is right and what is wrong based on their own different views about life and death (Rachels, 2013). The reason given in the argument is that death is not a phenomenon to be left to human beings to decide on, but for God to control. While distinguishing passive and active euthanasia, Rachel further thinks that no direct action should be designed to kill a patient.
After an objective discussion with classmates, it was evident that I and some others have held a relativistic belief that different cultures and countries are at liberty to decide what is to be considered human right or not. While I believe this assertion can be justified by relativists, I think it is rational for me to re-evaluate it. I now hold a different view about relativism, well enough to counter against my own belief by acknowledging the truth that human rights are universal and should be left to different cultures to decide. This is because leaving such a decision to relativism will lead to abuse of human rights by ignoring the universality of human rights.
References
Mosser, K. (2013). Understanding philosophy, San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc
Rachels, J. (2013). Active and Passive Euthanasia, In Mosser, K. (2013). Understanding philosophy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc