exam essay question 2: cultural relativism

what is cultural relativism?

the view that ethical and social standards reflect the cultural context from which they are derived., therefore there is no way for a culture’s moral code to be “wrong”

objective truth

truths that are true no matter what; true for everyone

relative truth

true for a person in virtue of their beliefs, attitudes, desires.

are relative and objective truths mutually exclusive?

yes

why is subjectivism thought to entail relativism?

all subjectivists are relativists. however, not all relativists are subjectivists.

why? b/c we can make claims about the nature of something without making a claim about the meaning of our terms.

iow: relativists are able to avoid the first objection to subjectivism (substitutability principle)

three problems of cultural relativism

1. too tolerant; we cannot say slavery or antisemitism is wrong

2. implausible moral epistemology (it says that we can find out what’s right
   in a counterintuitive way)

3. moral progress is impossible