Moral Relativism - Explained and Debated
Philosophy Vibe・11 minutes read
Moral relativism rejects absolute morality, with judgments varying by society and time period, acknowledging cultural diversity. Objecting arguments cite undiscovered moral truths and challenges in addressing disagreements within cultures. Ethical subjectivism narrows moral judgment to personal attitudes.
Insights
- Moral relativism posits that moral judgments are relative to specific societies or time periods, acknowledging the diversity of moral beliefs and practices across cultures.
- A combination of moral objectivism and moral relativism proposes the existence of universal moral truths alongside relative moral behaviors influenced by cultural, temporal, and individual perspectives, offering a nuanced approach to understanding ethics.
Get key ideas from YouTube videos. It’s free
Recent questions
What is moral relativism?
Moral relativism is an ethical theory that posits moral judgments are relative to specific societies or time periods, rejecting the existence of absolute, universal morality.
Related videos
BBC Ideas
Relativism: Is it wrong to judge other cultures? | A-Z of ISMs Episode 18 - BBC Ideas
Aperture
What is Morality?
CrashCourse
Metaethics: Crash Course Philosophy #32
The Institute of Art and Ideas
The end of good and evil | Slavoj Žižek, Rowan Williams, Maria Balaska, Richard Wrangham
Love Of Wisdom
L1 Conventional Morality & Reflective Morality | परंपरागत और वैयक्तिक नैतिकता
Summary
00:00
Understanding Moral Relativism and Ethical Theories
- Moral relativism is an ethical theory that rejects the existence of absolute, universal morality, stating that moral judgments are relative to specific societies or time periods.
- Descriptive relativism acknowledges the evident moral disagreements across cultures and time periods.
- Cultural relativism emphasizes that moral judgments are rooted in the culture one is brought up in, leading to diverse moral beliefs and practices.
- Meta-ethical relativism asserts that there are no universal moral truths, with moral judgments being solely dependent on cultural perspectives.
- Strengths of moral relativism include explaining moral disagreements, cultural diversity, and fostering cultural tolerance.
- Objections to moral relativism include the assumption that undiscovered objective moral truths exist and the challenge of addressing moral disagreements within cultures.
- Ethical subjectivism refines moral relativism to the individual level, where moral judgments are true or false based on personal attitudes.
- A blend of moral objectivism and moral relativism suggests the existence of fundamental objective moral truths while allowing for relative moral behaviors based on cultural, temporal, and individual perspectives.
