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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?