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2.1 Is Morality Relative?
What is the issue?
- We have a wide range of different moral beliefs.
- Who’s to say who’s right?
- Maybe there are no “right answers” to questions of right and wrong.
Relavist: Yes
- Descriptive claim: societies differ greatly in their moral beliefs.
- Claim about the nature of morality:
Morality is a set of rules.
Morality is taught.
No one can step outside of all moral systems to judge which is best.
Morality is a set of rules
- Like baseball or etiquette.
- Rules are created, not discovered.
- Not natural but man-made.
Morality is taught
- Not innate or instinctive.
- Our moral beliefs depend on our upbringing.
- Parents, society, peers.
- What would happen if children were not taught morality?
Can’t step outside all systems
- Like judging rules of different games from the outside.
- Cannot objectively judge which is best.
- When we are appalled by the values of another society we are judging it by our own standards.
Protagoras
- One of the Sophists.
- Sophists could argue either side of an issue; no “right” answer.
- “Man is the measure of all things.”
- Judgments of right and good are relative to human interests.
- Each society sets its own standards.
Challenges to Relativist
- Can’t we judge some moral systems as wrong? (e.g. Nazi Germany)
- Is an individual who doesn’t conform to their society in the wrong?
- Is moral progress possible?
- Should we consider every individual’s moral beliefs equally valid? (moral relativism on the individual level)
Absolutist: No
- We may not know whether an action is right or wrong but we can be sure it’s not both at the same time.
- Relativism is incoherent.
- If there are moral truths, they are universal.
Universal vs. Exceptionless
- Universal: applies to everyone, regardless of culture, personal beliefs, or historical era.
- Exceptionless: a characteristic of a rule, applies under all circumstances, no exceptions.
- Absolutists can hold that moral truths are universal without being committed to exceptionless moral rules.
Example: Polygamy
- Right: traditional, respects natural inclinations, promotes strong families.
- Wrong: unfair, sexist, promotes jealousy.
- Could make a case either way but it can’t be both!
Objective vs. Subjective
- If something is objective, it’s a matter of fact, not opinion (e.g., New Mexico is a state).
- If something is subjective, it is a matter of opinion (e.g., chocolate tastes good).
- An objective truth can be controversial; people may have different opinions about it. But there is still a fact of the matter.
Plato
- There are right and wrong answers to moral questions.
- Not just “might makes right” or majority rule.
- There are objective ideals (Forms) that can be discovered through reason.
- Allegory of the Cave.
Challenges to Absolutist
- If there are universal moral truths, why is there so much disagreement?
- Can’t two people disagree yet both be right? (subjective/objective)
- Is Absolutism compatible with tolerance?
- Where do these truths come from?