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MORAL RELATIVISM:
OVERVIEW &
DISCUSSION
PHIL 102, Spring 2018
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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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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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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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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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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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COMMONLY DISCUSSED ISSUES
WITH MORAL RELATIVISM
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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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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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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