Moral Relativism Essay

To many theorists, the philosophical stance embedded in moral relativism aims to understand morality in such a way that refutes an absolute truth. In other words, moral relativism confronts the idea that universal moral standards are inherent to the human species and in doing so suggests that these standards are merely culturally relative. An important aspect of the moral relativist argument includes the fact that cultures vary drastically around the world; and therefore, different cultures have different moral codes. Because a moral relativist distinguishes these differences, they would proclaim that no culture’s moral code can be characterized as “right” or “wrong.” In an attempt to better understand and further advance these moral relativist

These arguments will build on the introduction’s meaning of moral relativism by presenting the core moral relativist views laid out in Rachels’ “Why Morality is Not Relative” while supplementing the information with Benedict’s “The Case for Moral Relativism.” By amplifying the fundamental views of moral relativism immediately, it will allow me to defend my thesis by revealing some significant costs that go along with a moral relativist viewpoint. As I further develop my argument, such costs will expose the principles of moral relativism to be problematic. While the main objective for this essay is to dispute the premise of moral relativism, I will ultimately present two intriguing reasons why this viewpoint cannot be simply

Foremost, it is important to recall that the premise of a moral relativist’s argument relies on the principle, “Different cultures have different moral codes” while the conclusion asserts that, “right and wrong are only matters of opinion, and opinions vary from culture to culture” (Rachels 141). In view of this moral relativist principle, I oppose the argument that rightness and wrongness are simply matters of opinion because the mere fact of diversity does not entail truth. Rachels furthers my claim by declaring, “The premise concerns what people believe—in some societies, people believe one thing; in other societies, people believe differently. The conclusion, however, concerns what really is the case” (Rachels 141). In other words, there are many beliefs varying from culture to culture; however, there must be some sort of definitive right or wrong answer when it comes to these