Moral relativism

In philosophy, Moral relativism is the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect absolute or universal truths but instead are relative to social, cultural, historical or personal references, and that there is no single standard by which to assess an ethical proposition's truth. Relativistic positions often see moral values as applicable only within certain cultural boundaries or the context of individual preferences. An extreme relativist position might suggest that it is meaningless for the moral or ethical judgments or acts of one person or group to be judged by another, though most relativists propound a more limited version of the theory.

References and sources

:Curt Baier, "Difficulties in the Emotive-Imperative Theory" in Moral Judgement: Readings in Contemporary Meta-Ethics

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:Ruth Benedict, Patterns of Culture (Mentor)

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:Michael E. Berumen, Do No Evil: Ethics with Applications to Economic Theory and Business (iUniverse)

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:R.M. Hare, Sorting out Ethics (Oxford University Press)

Related Topics:
R.M. Hare - Oxford University Press

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:David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, ed. Tom L. Beauchamp (Oxford University Press)

Related Topics:
David Hume - Oxford University Press

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:G.E. Moore, Principia Ethica (Cambridge University Press)

Related Topics:
G.E. Moore - Cambridge University Press

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:Jean-Paul Sartre, "Existentialism is a Humanism" in Existentialism From Dostoevsky to Sartre, ed. by Walter Kaufmann (World Publishing Company)

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:Leo Strauss, The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism, ed. Thomas L. Pangle (University of Chicago Press)

Related Topics:
Leo Strauss - University of Chicago

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:Edward Westermarck, The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas (Macmillan)

Related Topics:
Edward Westermarck - Macmillan

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:Bernard Williams, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy (Harvard University Press)

Related Topics:
Bernard Williams - Harvard University Press

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