People often encounter various issues related to cultural diversity in their lives, and at times they entail ethical dilemmas. My friend Ali, who is Muslim, was once invited to dinner by his Chinese colleague to celebrate the Chinese New Year and was excited about it. Ali’s colleague said to him: “It is a pleasure for me to host you in my home and I am sure that you will love the meal my mother cooked for us.” Ali thanked his host and responded by saying: “I am happy to be your guest and cannot wait to enjoy the dinner in your company.” Yet, when they sat at the table, the main meal of the night turned out to be rice with pork, a product prohibited in Islam.
The meal was cooked by the colleague’s mother, who was a lady who did not speak English. Thus, a difficult dilemma emerged for Ali, who by eating the meal would violate his religious obligations and by refusing it would show disrespect to the hosts, and especially the mother of the colleague.
There can be multiple approaches to such a dilemma, one of them is that of a subjective moral relativist. Such a person would decide in support of refusing to eat the meal offered by the hosts and politely explaining to them their perspective on eating pork. The decision by a subjective moral relativist can be explained by the person’s core philosophy. Moral subjectivism implies that there are no objective moral values, and every decision must be motivated by feelings or desires (Jacobs, 2019). As a result, subjective moral relativism is correct since by implementing it, every person would value their own feelings more than those of other people and would ultimately choose to adhere to their principles.
Nevertheless, a cultural relativist would make the opposite decision and would agree to share the meal with the hosts despite the fact that eating pork was against their beliefs. Cultural relativism also postulates that religious or other beliefs have no objectivity. Yet, it implies a conclusion that all cultures are equal, and it is unethical to place one’s cultural beliefs above those of others (Rachels & Rachels, 2019). As a result, a cultural relativist would decide in favor of consuming pork as a way to demonstrate their tolerant treatment of other cultures. Disrespecting the hosts by refusing to eat their food would constitute intolerant behavior unacceptable for cultural relativists. Yet, this approach is incorrect because it would make the person implementing it to ignore their own views.
Ali decided to refuse to eat the meal and notified the hosts about his religious beliefs and the prohibition of pork, mandatory for all Muslims. The colleague respected the decision and offered him a different meal, while the colleague’s mother became visibly disappointed with the guest. Ali said that their belief is the most important element in their life, and being a virtuous Muslim implies making certain sacrifices. He was ready to face a potential negative reaction on the part of the hosts, which nevertheless did not happen. Personally, I believe that Ali made a morally correct decision because it reflected his own beliefs and views.
I am certain that in the current situation, there was no objectively right decision which Ali could make. Ethical matters cannot imply any objectivity, and, therefore, subjectivism is the right approach since it recognizes the fact that morality stems from feelings rather than from knowledge (Mizzoni, 2017). Thus, Ali’s situation cannot be analyzed from the position of objectivity and instead has to be assessed subjectively.
The story of Ali and his dinner with a colleague constitutes an example of an ethical dilemma which cannot be resolved based on objectivity. Ali’s decision to avoid eating a meal with pork became a manifestation of his religious views and strict adherence to Islam. Nevertheless, the dilemma itself did not imply any objectively correct action since it was based on subjective views held by the two parties.
References
Jacobs, J. (2019). Ethics a-z. Edinburgh University Press.
Mizzoni, J. (2017). Ethics: The basics (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Rachels, S., & Rachels, J. (2019). The elements of moral philosophy (9th ed.). Mcgraw-Hill Education.