Blackburn is an avid supporter of ethics but thinks that there are some threats that tend to destabilize individuals when it comes to standards of conduct and choice. Among the threats that Blackburn highlighted in his book “Being Good” is relativism, atheism, egoism, and determinism. Blackburn is of the view that these threats tend to influence individuals into thinking that ethics is impossible, as the threats tend to seep through the moral environment.
Relativism is a major threat to ethics considering that it establishes that each group or culture has its own morality. This then means that it is possible for a particular group to engage in unethical behavior but still be moral if they consider the behavior beneficial. As such, there is no standard measure to define what is moral and what is not leading to ethics being under threat.
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Atheism as a threat to ethics as it assumes that God is dead and He being is supposedly the lawgiver, there is no law in His absence. More so, the atheism aspect is of the idea that religion is a projection of individuals’ values and just like relativism; it does not offer a standard measure of ethical behavior. Blackburn believes that religious motivations actually break ethics as different religions are affiliated with barbaric, intolerant, and ignorant moral precepts.
Determinism undermines ethics as it excludes free will as everything there is a product of the environment and genes. If this is the case then, humans cannot be held morally responsible for their actions. In particular, there is no need to prohibit anything, as doing so will introduce the aspect of free will considering that humans just respond to the existing moral climate.
Egoism is a threat to ethics as it establishes that individuals are concerned with pursuing their own interests without considering their effects on others. For this reason, it is possible that one would engage in immoral acts if it means that the acts would guarantee his or her personal interests. In this regard, ethics becomes just a mirage.
Blackburn being aware of the aspects that threaten ethics is still hopeful that it is still possible to defeat these threats. According to Blackburn (2001), the only way to defeat these threats is by not succumbing to the threats but rather understand that the cure lies with the people. In this regard, individuals should be ready to pursue morality no matter the perspectives that tend to argue that morality is impossible.
References
Blackburn, S. (2001). Being Good: A Short Introduction to Ethics . New York: Oxford University Press.
