Question 25
Which of the following might be a serious logical problem with ethical relativism?
2 pts
O In order for ethical relativism to be a theory about morality, and not just a very about people's culturally derived beliefs, it has to hold the
morality is real, and that the rules of morality have moral force. But real things like mathematics and human physiology do not vary from
culture to culture the way that various kinds of sports and folk dancing do vary from culture to culture. Thus ethical relativism both implies
that morality is a real thing like mathematics, but also an arbitrary thing like folk dancing. Thus ethical relativism is at least logically
incoherent, if not downright self-contradictory.
Ethical relativism has no logical problems because morality is not actually real. That is absolutely no reasonable basis for saying one person is
morally better or worse than any other. It simply makes no sense whatsoever, under any reasonable theory, to say that a person who
murdered hundreds, thousands, and even millions of people is any worse than someone else who saved innocent people from those who
would murder them.
Ethical relativism has a logical problem because the times ethical relativism and moral relativism are always treated as synonyms, but in fact
the terms ethical and moral have completely different meanings in the context of moral philosophy.
Ethical relativism has no logical problems because there is no logical contradiction between holding that morality is both a universal thing
like mathematics that can provide completely non-arbitrary reasons for acting, and that it is and Charlie local thing like folk dancing based on
completely arbitrary reasons for acting.