Unit IV Journal
October 1, 2020
discussion response
October 1, 2020
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The movie Training Day

Consider the following: Relativism and how it relates to the criminal justice system, as well as the implications for those that enforce the laws.  Relativity poses many dilemmas for the practice of lawmaking.  Laws almost always have a moral dimension.  In fact, there tends to be a strong consensus among the public concerning the wrongfulness of certain behaviors and the desirability of prohibiting them.  Where and when conflict does occur over moral values and appropriate behavior, it is the law that ultimately must supply working answers.  The nature of lawmaking is such that certain values must be imposed upon citizens.

Relativism asks us to consider the possibility that there are no true, absolute, objective, or universal moral principles, right or wrong actions, or good or evil characters.  In addition, relativism states that we must abandon any search for an ideal ethical system.

Three key claims of ethical relativism are: (1) the factual claim that morality differs from culture to culture, time period to time period, etc., (2) consequently, there is no objective sense of moral right and wrong, and (3) because of these previous two claims, we should not judge the beliefs and practices of other cultures and time periods.

Therefore, according to the previous statements how does the criminal justice system impose morality and laws grounded in ethical doctrine onto a population?  Is it right and true for a government to impose laws onto its citizens if according to relativism there is no way to ascertain good from bad, right from wrong?

Thus, given the above statements, discuss the concept of street justice seen in the film Training Day in relation to the ethical framework of relativism and at least one additional ethical framework: (choose at least one of the following to discuss along with relativism)
objectivism, universalism, or legal moralism.

In your response address the balancing act between street justice, morality and lawmaking/ law enforcement when viewed through the lens of relativism and at least one of the other three ethical frameworks you select.  You can discuss any aspect of the ethical frameworks, either pro or con, in relation to the different scenarios from the film.

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