Difference between revisions of "3. How can actions be justified?"
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Back To: [[Day the Universe Changed: Changing Knowledge, Changing Reality]] | Back To: [[Day the Universe Changed: Changing Knowledge, Changing Reality]] | ||
| − | Throughout history, people have taken actions that we may find hard to justify today. For example, white slave owners in the 19th century thought they were doing their slaves a favor by providing them with food and shelter. Now we know that nothing can justify slavery. Actions are justified based on the knowledge that people posses in that time period (1). Basically, the facts a group of people believe are true affects their actions. However, as time goes on, facts that people believe change, therefore changing views | + | Throughout history, people have taken actions that we may find hard to justify today. For example, white slave owners in the 19th century thought they were doing their slaves a favor by providing them with food and shelter. Now we know that nothing can justify slavery. Actions are justified based on the knowledge that people posses in that time period (1). Basically, the facts a group of people believe are true affects their actions. However, as time goes on, facts that people believe change, therefore changing views on certain actions. Also, different cultures believe different things. The theory of Cultural Relativism states that one can only understand a culture if it is their own. What is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another (2). |
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| + | (1) | ||
| + | (2) http://www.gotquestions.org/cultural-relativism.html | ||
Revision as of 18:50, 3 September 2015
Back To: Day the Universe Changed: Changing Knowledge, Changing Reality
Throughout history, people have taken actions that we may find hard to justify today. For example, white slave owners in the 19th century thought they were doing their slaves a favor by providing them with food and shelter. Now we know that nothing can justify slavery. Actions are justified based on the knowledge that people posses in that time period (1). Basically, the facts a group of people believe are true affects their actions. However, as time goes on, facts that people believe change, therefore changing views on certain actions. Also, different cultures believe different things. The theory of Cultural Relativism states that one can only understand a culture if it is their own. What is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another (2).
(1) (2) http://www.gotquestions.org/cultural-relativism.html
