that person is really immoral. For example, he/she . . .
I read an essay: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3941/c4f373ba834cb8004272ae51e03c3c83188e.pdf
It is talking about the different immorality between the East and the West.
It mentioned an example:
We have a sentence: that person is really immoral. For example, he/she . . .
If a Chinese fills this sentence, he would probably say he/she makes lots of noise, or he/she litters etc.
If a Western fills this sentence, he would probably say he/she is stealing, or he/she is harming others etc.
I only want to know if this is true.
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 10
0
If I understand your question, Bear, you are asking what a Westerner would consider immoral. If that is what you're asking, I think it would be safe to say that most Western people would consider many things immoral, such as: murder, genocide, theft, pollution, embezzlement, cruelty, abuse, slavery, racism, and substance abuse. Some religious people, or highly idealistic people, have a different set of standards, and so would classify some things immoral that other people would accept; for example: abortion, the consumption of meat, promiscuity, and homosexuality. Most people would think of loud noises or littering as annoyances, not to mention bad citizenship/unneighborly, but probably would not categorize these things as immoral.
0
(...Westerner...)
But yes, from the point of view of a Westerner, that is probably true.
It's also true that a Westerner would consider lying about a product to be immoral, yet based on many products I have bought from several Chinese websites, lying ( or at least gross exaggeration) seems to be a common business practise.
0
I think you're right, Bear. Western morality is largely based on religious codes of conduct, like the '10 Commandments', but attitudes about the kinds behaviours you described are more culture specific. In a business setting, there might be a 'code of conduct' or 'community standards', but speaking about Westerners at large, it would be more exact to speak of 'culture' or 'cultural norms'. Like Chinese culture, most Western cultures would consider littering to be annoying or socially unacceptable, but depending on the location, being noisy could be annoying and unacceptable or it could be considered a healthy form of self expression; it all depends on the context.
This is an interesting topic, and I look forward to hearing what other people think. Thanks for posting the question.
0
Thanks, Gary.
I lean Libertarian, Phil, so you'll have to answer that yourself. I was merely making a general statement that some people would consider it so, especially the more religious among us.
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!
Start Learning Today
