英語時間｜To be right and wrong at the same time【623期】

更新時間：00:00 2022-05-12 HKT
發佈時間：00:00 2022-05-12 HKT

What do you call your father? Even the sort of name you give him can be considered a sort of moral problem.You likely call your father‘dad’,‘daddy’,‘papa’, etc, or the equivalents in Chinese or another language. In some cultures, however, children just call their fathers by their given names, like‘Peter’,‘John’, etc. Unsurprisingly, in Chinese culture calling your father by his given name is very impolite and is considered the wrong thing to do. Is calling one’s father by his name right or wrong?

Different answer for the same question
Logically and morally speaking, the answer should be,‘It depends on the situation.’In some cultures, like among the Chinese, calling your father by his name is considered wrong. Similarly, it is not a problem in other cultures because calling your father by his name is considered right. But should deciding what is right or wrong be based on common practice? In some cultures, having slaves is still thought of as normal. But is it correct to say whether slavery is right or wrong is based on which culture we belong to? How about a man having several wives instead of only one? Or not allowing women to vote?

Moral relativism
THIS issue of what is‘right’or‘wrong’is related to a viewpoint called‘moral relativism’（道德相對主義）. This is when we think an action is only right or wrong based on the culture or situation, and that there is no absolute right or wrong. This can explain the many differences in moral arguments, like the previous examples. However, can we really believe that all moral judgments depend on certain things and situations?

Vocabulary
moral (adj) 道德的
equivalent (n) 對應的東西
common practice (n phr) 慣常做法
slave (n) 奴隸
viewpoint (n) 觀點
absolute (adj) 絕對的