It is believed that people can have relative and absolute ethics and morals. However, it ignites the debate regarding the extent of considering some actions absolutely good or bad. There are many situations in which it is complicated to decide whether a person has made an ethically sound choice. Therefore, I consider all ethical and moral principles relative because they frequently depend on the context.
The central part of the discussed problem is that ethics and morals have no sense or value without a specific situation. There are rules encompassed in the Ten Commandments that can be regarded as absolute. Socrates said that ethics is knowing what people ought to do, which suggests that members of a society should have moral guidelines (Velasquez et al., 1987). Despite this, many individuals violate absolute prescriptions due to various reasons. For instance, one of the parents can steal some food from a store because the family does not have enough money. Without context, stealing is absolutely bad, but when one looks at the situation, he or she might find reasons to condone such an action. It seems that everyone already has the right to decide which behaviors are acceptable or not, considering the example above. Moreover, many businesses choose smart and reasonable solutions instead of morally right ones (MCAESCU, 2012). Thus, human nature is built in a way to make rational solutions, which can be disadvantageous for the rest.
The issue also concerns the criminal justice system in many countries worldwide. The views of legal professionals on ethics and morals can affect day-to-day decision-making and even people’s lives. For example, if one accidentally injures a person, it would be unjust to impose capital punishment, which relates more to the belief about the adequacy of crime and penalty (Velasquez et al., 2014). In addition, the U.S. justice system is not perfect because black people tend to receive more death sentences than whites (Velasquez et al., 2014). In this case, the moral attitudes of legal professionals leave many questions and can compromise the ordinary lives of many families.
Finally, society works in a way that makes ethics and morals relative in most cases. Although people have a set of moral principles like the Ten Commandments, it does not guarantee that they will follow them. Moreover, legal professionals can also make morally ambiguous decisions on imposing a penalty, which can dramatically impact the daily decision-making of many individuals.
References
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. (2012). The nexus of the law and ethics. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Web.
Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T. S. J., & Meyer, M. J. (1987). Can ethics be taught?Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Web.
Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T. S. J., & Meyer, M. J. (2014). Justice and fairness. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Web.