Morality: Facts and Values

When a person like to approach some specific issues of life like euthanasia, capital punishment, abortion, etc..., he/she need carry the important aspect of life such as the background belief which involves the facts and values of every human being. Because of this - the dispute in morality are facts of life. The questions arise here is whether all the propositions of morality are some how relative. To answer the question we need to clarify at least four different form of relativism, but before we tackle those four let us look first the philosophical distinction between facts and values.

In general, the dictionary defines fact as things done and values are something as a principle, quality, or entity. A fact is an actually happening in time and space. For Hume, the world or facts are exhausted by sensory facts, and values are attitudes and feeling. Therefore, the factual belief involves a description about the way the world is: empirically, metaphysically, and religiously. A value belief involves the adherence to some moral proposition which prescribes what morally ought to be.

Every human being has a different factual belief, or experience, because of this ethical disagreement sprout out. For example, when Jehovah witness refuses to have a blood transfusion and dies, does it mean they are advocator of suicide, and they accept the moral appropriateness of taking ones life? Of course not. Like all of us, Jehovah witnesses believe that suicide is immoral and taking one’s life was forbidden. Because of the belief that God will condemn those who eat blood and transfusion is example of eating blood. Jehovah witnesses action or decision is a factual belief that what they did is an act of sacrificing one’s life for God.

People have different cultures, but we cannot say that they are not the same over the values they embrace. Let us consider two cultures (Culture A and culture B) as an example in this scenario. In culture A taking, the life when a person get old is thought to be a moral duty that would benefit an elderly person. Nevertheless, in culture B this kind of act is morally forbidden. Through there action or choices, do culture A and B consider have different values? Maybe not. I believe that both cultures have the same truth over the proposition of moral values. However, the two cultures have a different factual belief that causes them to contrast to one another. In this case, culture A and B agree about moral values, but they are differing in factual belief. In some instances it is an affirmation of reality to all of us that euthanasia, abortion, etc. is a factual debates not primarily a moral one, even though of course it has moral implications.

Therefore, in general, we need to understand the different form of ethical relativism for us to know the distinction between facts and values.