Ethical Relativism: What it is, and objections thereagainst

I. Ethical Relativism: The view that what is ethically right is relative either to the individual (Individual Relativism or Subjectivism) or to one’s culture (Cultural Relativism or Conventionalism). (That is, to an Individual Relativist, every person is the sole determiner of what is right and wrong; to a Cultural Relativist, each culture is the sole determiner of what is right and wrong.)

A. TWO OBJECTIONS against Individual Relativism:

1. It refutes itself. If whatever I believe is correct about morality is right, and suppose I think that there is an objective truth about ethics (e.g., God judges us when we die), then I am right and there is an objective answer to ethics! But then the Individual Relativist is wrong … right? J

2. There can be no argument about what is right and wrong, no matter how sure you are that they have done something wrong. Hitler is right, Stalin is right, and every action any one has ever done, as long as the person thought it was ethically right, is right. E.g., as a teacher, I can fail you if you get all As on the coursework, and you would have to admit that I was correct, fair, etc. to do so, if Individual Relativism is the correct ethical theory.

B. five Objections against Cultural Relativism:

1. Though helpful as an explanation of other cultures, it does not justify them. This view may help us to understand why cultures have accepted cannibalism, slavery, sexism, racism, genital mutilation, having no human rights, etc., but it does not give a good argument as to why these actions are ever moral. (This is not a criticism of anthropology, sociology, psychology, or history; these disciplines are asking different questions than ethicists are asking.)

2. There can be no argument about what is right and wrong between cultures, no matter how sure your culture is that some other culture has done something wrong. Hitler’s Germany is right, Afghanistan’s policy of not educating females, and so on, are right; every action any culture has ever done (as long as the culture thought it was right), is right.

3. If you do not follow the culture’s beliefs, you are immoral. It is unclear how one can go about changing the culture’s belief or practice, if one finds oneself thinking that the culture is wrong. Anyone who thinks abortion should be illegal is wrong, and if they perform any action on that belief, they are immoral.

4. What proportion counts? Is it 51%? 75%? 90%? Who takes the polls and how often? How do we know what our culture thinks about LOTS of recent ethical questions: cloning, genetic engineering, etc.?

5. Whose culture is relevant? What culture do I count as my own? What if my father is from one culture and my mother is from another? Which culture is right? What about the sub-culture of being in a religion, being a professor, being an Arizonan, being a gang member, etc. What if these cultural beliefs conflict?

C. Unless these objections can be replied to satisfactorily, these views have little merit as ethical theories go. So the search continues for a sound ethical theory.