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Running head: SUBJECTIVE ETHICAL THEORIES 1

SUBJECTIVE ETHICAL THEORIES 5

Subjective Ethical Theories

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Subjective Ethical Theories

Subjective ethical theories are theories that explain the actions and moral judgments about men and the action and reactions of other people on the men and their actions, the way these people feel or think about the men. In the absence of the people who react and pass judgments upon the men, by responding to them with love feelings, hate, approval and disapproval, and admiration, it, therefore, follows that the moral predicates are either actors-possessed or actions-possessed (Wreen, 2018). These theories are categorized into two; emotivism and approbative ethical theories.

Emotivism theory argues that there is no truth value since moral judgments lack cognitive content. For instance, the statement that 'murder is wrong' lacks objective truth, which is due to a lack of objective moral facts (Rev, 2020). The theory teaches that various moral statements lack meaning, and the statements try to express the feelings of the speakers about a particular issue. An individual expressing these feelings proceeds to influence the thoughts of another person.

However, this theory faces some criticism. It contradicts the moral convictions held by people. Philosophers suggest that there lies no good reason to argue about moral judgments, since expressing the judgments is less compared to expressing someone's personal opinions. Also, the theory is not satisfying (Jacko, 2019), as many philosophers prefer moral statements to express one's feelings. The non-philosophers demands more explanation of morality than this theory can provide.

The approbative theories have further branched and comprise of cultural and subjective relativism and the divine command theory. Cultural relativism theory involves understanding other people's culture on its term without making any judgment using one's culture standards. It aims at promoting understanding of different existing cultural practices that are not in one's culture. Using this theory leads to everyone viewing that their culture is compared to other people for the morality systems. Therefore, any ethical opinion is subject to each person's perspective with their respective culture (Jacko, 2019). By a culture believing in moral values, they end creating them and are equally correct. The theory, however, undermines the tolerance view as a morally valid value and any other moral values. The theory assumes that every culture is morally perfect, though it may not be true.

The Divine Command Theory views that morality depends on God to approve the actions. Obligations of morals depend on obeying the commands of God. Thus, the morally right actions are the ones that God has commanded us to adhere to. The different individual views on this theory and religion make the specific content of God's command to vary significantly (Shihadeh, 2016). However, all the different theory versions hold a similar and common claim that morality and obligations are dependent on God. Subjective Relativism theory also assumes that provided the agent of either wrong or right action approves his or her actions, he or she is morally right. In scenarios when the behavior of an agent is terrible, and he or she approves it to be good, his or her suggestions must be considered to be morally right (Rev, 2020). This theory implies that every human is morally perfect, which may be not correct.

The current theories assist in understanding the moral judgments in many scenarios. The competing items, for instance, should be identified in terms of personal values. Moral judgment may be difficult in instances when the product has similar characteristics to that of personal values. They help in making a clear picture of God and his commands. They should be used effectively.

References

Jacko, J. F. (2019). Other moral theories: subjectivism, relativism, emotivism, intuitionism, etc.

Rev., L. (2020). PHI 2604 – Critical Thinking/Ethics Handouts [Ebook].

Shihadeh, A. (2016). Theories of Ethical Value in Kalam: A New Interpretation.

Wreen, M. (2018). What Is Moral Relativism?. Philosophy, 93(3), 337-354.