Brief discussion of moral relativism

This short set of slides is for an Introduction to Philosophy course at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Talking about moral relativism wasn't originally a topic for the course, but it was coming up in class so I made a few slides and dedicated some time in a later class to talk about it.

I forgot to put a license on these slides: they are licensed CC BY 4.0

philosophy
ethics
morality
moral theory
moral relativism
ethical relativism

Transcript

1. MORAL RELATIVISM:
   OVERVIEW &
   DISCUSSION
   PHIL 102, Spring 2018
   

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2. Moral relativism is different than saying
   people disagree
   A descriptive claim about morality:
   Different groups have different views of what is morally right
   and wrong and the fundamental principles of morality
   Group 1
   X is
   morally
   right
   X is wrong,
   Y is right
   Group 2
   X & Y are
   wrong
   Group 3
   

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3. Moral Relativism
   • “The truth or falsity of moral judgments … is not
   absolute or universal, but is relative to the traditions,
   convictions, or practices of a group of persons.”
   o Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Moral Relativism
   • No “single moral code has universal validity”;
   “moral truth and justifiability…are in some way
   relative to factors that are culturally and historically
   contingent” (Wong 442).
   o David Wong, “Relativism.” A Companion to Ethics, Ed. Peter Singer. Cambridge, Mass:
   Basil Blackwell, 1991.
   

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4. Moral Relativism diagram
   Group 1
   X is morally
   right
   X is wrong,
   Y is right
   Group 2
   X & Y are
   wrong
   Group 3
   OBJECTIVE TRUTH ABOUT MORALITY
   

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5. Moral objectivism
   • “Moral judgments are ordinarily true or false in an
   absolute or universal sense”
   o Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Moral Relativism
   • “There are moral norms whose correctness … is
   independent of the moral norms a culture does or
   might accept, and thus they express universally valid
   moral standards …” (Timmons 41).
   o Timmons, Mark. Moral Theory: An Introduction. Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
   

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6. Moral Objectivism Diagram
   Group 1
   X is morally
   right
   X is wrong,
   Y is right
   Group 2
   X & Y are
   wrong
   Group 3
   OBJECTIVE TRUTH ABOUT MORALITY
   

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7. COMMONLY DISCUSSED ISSUES
   WITH MORAL RELATIVISM
   

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8. Criticizing the actions of those not in
   your group
   • If another group does what you think of as immoral
   what can you say as a moral relativist?
   • Can there be “human rights”?
   

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9. Criticizing your own group’s views
   • Can you criticize the moral views of your own group?
   • What about claims to moral progress?
   • Sort of like Plato’s Euthyphro:
   o are things morally right because our group they are, or
   should our group think of morality according to what is
   morally right?
   

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10. Point of moral discussion seems lost
    • Why have conversations with others inside or
    outside our group about what’s morally right?
    o Inside: what’s right is just what our group says
    o Outside: what’s right is just what their group says
    

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