Robert Vigliotti PL 3100 Ethical Theory Rockhurst University

1. Moral Relativism

2. Moral Relativism
• The philosophical theory of relativism
claims that what is right or good differs
from culture to culture or even from person
to person.
• Moral truth is always relative to a culture or
person’s particular circumstances.
• There are no absolute or objective moral
values or principles.

3. Moral Relativism
• Response to increasing contact with diverse
cultures with radically different customs
and values.
• Rejection of ethnocentrism: the uncritical
belief (prejudice) that one’s own culture is
inherently superior to another or all others.
– 19th
Century: Imperialism and Social Darwinism

4. Cultural Relativism /
Conventionalism
• Based on two claims:
1. Diversity Thesis:
– What is considered morally right and wrong
varies from society to society, so that there
are no moral principles accepted by all
societies.

5. Cultural Relativism /
Conventionalism
2. Dependency Thesis:
– All moral principles derive their validity from
cultural acceptance.
• The acceptance of moral principles is itself the product of
historical accident. The moral code to which we adhere is
ultimately arbitrary.
• Analogy: the rules of grammar for a particular language.

6. Cultural Relativism /
Conventionalism
• Conclusion:
– Therefore, there are no universally valid moral
principles that apply to all people everywhere
and at all times.

7. Subjective Ethical Relativism /
Subjectivism
• Subjectivism claims that moral truth are relative to
individual personal beliefs. In other words,
morality is subjective—what’s right or good for
me.
– Ultimately reduces morality to aesthetic tastes or purely
emotional responses (emotivism).
– Makes morality a useless concept because there can be
no interpersonal criticism, judgment, evaluation.
– Based on atomistic view of self, which happens to be
favored by our emphasis on individualism, but is belied
by our obvious belonging to several communities.

8. Subjective Ethical Relativism /
Subjectivism
Diversity
Thesis
What is considered morally right and wrong
varies from person to person, so that there
are no moral principles accepted by all
persons.
Dependency
Thesis
All moral principles derive their validity
from individual acceptance.
Conclusion Therefore, there are no universally valid
moral principles that apply to all persons or
individuals everywhere and at all times.

9. Cultural Relativism: Strengths
• Recognizes the anthropological fact of
diversity.
• Recognizes the influence of culture on our
formation.
• May create attitude of tolerance/critique of
ethnocentrism.

10. Cultural Relativism: Weaknesses
• Tolerance is a principle that may be precluded by a
particular culture.
– Can a relativist say that we ought to be tolerant of other
cultures? What about cultures that aren’t?
• Which culture? In a pluralistic society we belong to
many groups with conflicting views. To which do we
adhere?
• If my cultural moral code is arbitrary, why should I
adhere to it? Slippery slope back to Subjectivism.

11. Cultural Relativism: Weaknesses
• Are cultures all that different?
– While cultures certainly have different moral rules, do
they necessarily have different principles or values?
• Even if cultures do not share common moral rules
or values, can we conclude that no universal
principles exist?
– Fallacy: Appeal to Ignorance

12. Cultural Relativism: Weaknesses
• No cross-cultural criticism for acts or practices
that seem to us to be blatantly wrong.
– Relativism and Subjectivism preclude the possibility of
moral criticism altogether.
• We have no basis for evaluating moral progress.
– We cannot say, for example, that the abolition of
slavery was a good thing or a moral improvement, only
that it was a change in beliefs. (We can call this
historical or temporal relativism.)