Lecture Notes: Objections to Moral Relativism

Introduction

• Discussion topic: James Rachel's objections to cultural moral relativism.
• Relativism: Morality is determined by cultural beliefs.
  • Example: Abortion may be morally permissible in Japan, but not in Argentina.
• Types of Moral Relativism:
  • Cultural Moral Relativism: Morality is based on cultural practices.
  • Individual Moral Relativism: Morality is determined by individual beliefs.

Objections to Individual Moral Relativism

Key Point

• Inability to Recognize Past Mistakes:
  • If true, individuals can't claim they were wrong about previous moral beliefs.
  • Morality is true based on belief; if a belief changes, both are considered true.
• Example: Changing belief about abortion from wrong to permissible.
  • Impossible to claim previous belief was wrong.
• Consequence: No coherent way to talk about personal moral progress.

Objections to Cultural Moral Relativism

Objection 1: Fuzziness Problem

• Issue of Majority:
  • Unclear what percentage of a population must hold a belief to define cultural morality.
  • Example: Split beliefs in America on abortion (50% think it’s wrong, 50% think it’s permissible).
  • Difficulty in deriving normative guidance from a split culture.

Objection 2: Problem of Multiple Cultures

• Conflicting Moral Norms:
  • Individuals often belong to multiple cultures, which may have conflicting moral norms.
  • Example: American Catholic in Manhattan.
    • Catholic culture views abortion as immoral.
    • Manhattan culture may see abortion as permissible.
  • Individual faces conflicting moral claims.
• Consequence:
  • No clear guideline on which cultural norm to prioritize.
  • Cultural moral relativism provides no resolution in conflicting scenarios.

Conclusion

• Discussed one objection to individual moral relativism.
• Discussed two objections to cultural moral relativism from Shaw's paper.
• Highlighted challenges in using relativism for moral guidance.