Moral Absolutism, Essay Example

To best understand the set of beliefs I would advocate for as human resource manager, I will initiate the discussion with a brief overview of each set of beliefs. Ethical relativism holds it that morality is relative to the norms of ones culture (Kant, 1993). This simply put implies that an action that is considered right in one culture could be absolutely wrong in another culture. The shortcoming of this belief lies in its tendency to promote social conformity thus leaving no room for moral reform or improvement. For instance, where as apartheid in South Africa or Nazism in Germany consisted of actions that were acceptable in the respective societies; those actions however remained repugnant to the rest of the world.

Moral universalism simply put means that actions considered right or wrong in one society are also viewed as such across different societies regardless of race, country, religion, sexuality etc. On the other hand moral absolutism has it that certain actions are absolutely wrong or right despite the intention that initiated them or their consequences. All three set of beliefs have their strong arguments and weaknesses. However, moral absolutism stands out as a perfect choice for an IHRM as it leaves slim chances or non for debates regarding what is right or wrong.

Ethical relativism is prone to abuse e.g. an employee could defend wrong actions by claiming that particular kind of actions is permissible within his culture. Such actions can be discriminating against members of opposite sex or having showing condescending attitudes towards them which could lower their work output. It is true that moral absolutism and moral universalism are compatible. However, in the context of a multinational company like mine, moral universalism would be the best choice if employee discipline is to be sustained. It seals the loopholes left wide open by moral universalism as it makes it easy to tell the difference between black and white.

References

Kant, I. (1993). On a Supposed Right to Lie from Altruistic Motives. In Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals: With on a Supposed Right to Lie Because of Philanthropic Concerns. Indianapolis: Hackett.