Ethical Values: Relative and Absolute

An ethical value is an indicator of the conduct that allows us to face our daily life. Thus, when we have to decide on a specific action (for example, to help someone or not to do it) there is an assessment that prompts us to act generously or selfishly.

The ideas of justice, hope or solidarity They are ethical values ​​that become ideals that influence our behavior, whether at work, in personal relationships or in any aspect of life.

Two criteria for understanding ethical values: relativism and universality of values

Ethics is a discipline of the philosophy and focuses on reflection of behavior moral of individuals. In a very schematic way, it can be said that there are two possible approaches.

From the perspective of relativism, human values ​​are changeable and depend on a series of circumstances (the education received, the social context, the historical moment, etc). Thus a citizen upper class and with favorable living conditions it is foreseeable that they have very different values ​​from those of a person living in a favela and at risk of

social exclusion. This approach is deterministic, since x vital circumstances imply x human values.

Some philosophers consider that values ​​are not relative but are universal and objective. Their universality lies in the fact that they are common ideas in all cultures and circumstances. In other words, the idea of ​​solidarity or justice may vary in some specific aspect, but all human beings have an idea of ​​what solidarity or justice means.

The point of view of the sophists and Plato

In classical Greece the sophists and Plato raised a debate interesting in relation to ethical values. The sophists defended a relativistic view and maintained that moral considerations were a simple human convention (what was morally desirable to the Athenians might be despicable to the Spartans).

Instead, Plato argued that ethical values ​​are found in the human soul as universal ideas and through knowledge it is possible to know them and put them into practice. For Plato, when the human being identifies the ethical values ​​within him, he is in a position to lead a just and harmonious life.

Photos: Fotolia - Photoraidz / alestraza

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