I’ve decided to take the plunge and study philosophy and I’m loving it so far (As well as hating it too!) And my first assignment is on culture and ethics. I’ve got to find some references for this assignment and I am having a bit of trouble outside of what the tutor has given for us and wikipedia! -_-. SO if anyone on this board has any ideas or knows of any good links or something and are willing to share I would really appreciate it.
The question is on Meta-ethics and is:
"‘culture is the truth-maker of our moral claims and judgments’? " Do I agree?
I’ve come to the conclusion that this statement has some merits and I am going to argue that I do agree but to the point that culture is a changing thing which might lead to a more universal moral truth over the relative truths we have at the moment in ethics.
Aussie, I think the point of the assignment is to get you to practice research on specific ideas.
Cross reference the ideas involved (using google) with Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Pepper it with a little bit of second hand Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. Enlightenment and post-enlightenment philosophers are the ones most focused on this kind of thing (before, the answer was just basically “god”).
Also, look into authors of sociology like Mills, Weber and Berger.
There is a third possibility, and that is, be your own God, decide for yourself, what is moral and immoral. Individual relativism, as opposed to cultural relativism, or following some abstract principle like Kantianism or Utilitarianism. There is no standard higher than me, I am the standard.
If I had to go for a philosophy major, I would totally pretend to be a devil worshipper. Fuck, why not. Not like the essays would ever see the light of day… and given how poor of a grasp many professors have, a generic immoral demonic stance sounds nietzschean enough. Fuck… they might even invite me to join the faculty covenant and get a teaching job after sacrificing a guinea pig on the deans desk while everyone stands naked in a circle around me. Thats community college for you.
Fuck… like, just wipe your butt on that page and turn it in. Theyre not expecting much out of your first paper. I would just fucking… blah that. Write whatever stupid fantasy pops in your head and then wander off to the library and pick a big name philosopher and start reading on your own. Best ifit has nothing to do with the crap your told to learn. Fuck em.
Hi thanks for your input. I am going to check those philosophers out and see if they can aide my argument. Seriously was a helpful post. I had a chance to speak to my tutor and he wants me to explore the definitions of truth and culture and contextualise them regarding my argument of if I do or don’t agree with the statement. I’ll be looking at the implications of this meta-ethical concept relating to relativism and normative ethical functions whilst arguing that I think I think that truth is but a tool for applicability for our culture.
And… that’s a pretty heavy question for a first assignment. If you’re new to philosophy, I could recommend Simon Blackburn’s books Truth and Being Good. They’re not too heavy, but intelligent guides to the main arguments in the area.
Culture is the language-maker, certainly, and the environment in which that language is applied. It might be interesting to take a look at the extent to which that determines the truth or otherwise of moral claims - that is, whether the claims have real-world referents. Inuits may have more words for snow than anglophones, but the snow is unaffected by that.
That is a propaganda statement. You live in a socialist society. I strongly recommend that you agree with it. Find any excuse.
The issue of actual meta-ethics is well beyond anything you are going to find online or in the mind of your professors - best to just go along with the propaganda for now. Be a truth seeker and speaker AFTER they stamp you for approval and are out of the filtering process for which colleges are designed.
Thanks for the welcome and that is a positive message you left for me. I have read abit of blackburn’s stuff it was one of the required readings so I guess the tutors where following your train of though. I will revisit it however the might be some gem’s in there I can use. Tyvm
Hi, I’ve decided to agree with it and not for the sake of ensuring I go with the system but because I actually agree with it. I had to go ahead and contextualise the question in a manner that an undergraduate could successfully argue. The assignment is actually about building the strengths of an undergraduates ability to argue, problematise and contexualise effectively and displaying a mild capablitiy for independent research. The assignment isn’t about finding the true nature of society or what have you.
Look I think everyone is entitled to a few radical changes in thought yeah I do but I’m not about to go try reinvent the wheel in this instance where all I have to prove is that I can actually complete the assignment.
Yeah I will! I got my other mini assignment graded and I didn’t do to well their mind you I had a feeling I wasn’t fufilling the question totally and I did want to write about something else! Haha! You get that though
Grades are not in yet because I just submitted the assignment the other day. It was a very enjoyable piece to write because you didn’t have to go to deep into some of the terms.
