Question

How would an ethical relativist answer the following questions? To what extent do cultural values influence our understanding of, and practices towards, technology? Does technology have a universal meaning?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Ethical relativism is a theory that dictates that the ethics applied to a case would be relative to the ethical norms of the group it entails. For instance, an experiment that involves restaurant reviews of burger emporiums would be ethical to a non-vegetarian but unethical to involve a vegetarian or vegan.

(Question 1) Firstly, application of technology and modern applications form a broad category. Technology can mean the use of a smartphone or the use of an MRI machine. A community’s understanding of technology largely depends upon how literate the community is and how much exposure the individuals might have experienced of the modern world. Furthermore, religious convictions and personal beliefs would play a pivotal role in how a community might accept technology.

For instance, a Rastafarian would not participate in a medical procedure like an amputation. This is because it is against their religious beliefs to alter their body in any way. Therefore, the influence of the community and the level of the individual’s adherence to the regulations of their culture, play an important role in their level of acceptance.

(Question 2) Technology is nothing but the utility of tools to perform tasks that would help ease or simplify the application of menial tasks. For instance, a car helps ease the burden of walking long distances, a smartphone helps communicate without the tediousness and tardiness of a letter and a tractor helps till a farmland.

Technology itself is a sharp concept. However, depending on the tool and its application, the technology could have broader implications. A vegetarian would readily use an automatic vegetable chopper but might not accept a meat grinder. The technology might be closely related, however, the connotations and applications of technology are what causes the level of acceptance to vary.