Moral Relativism

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Moral Relativism

• Are There Any Absolutes?

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Are There Moral Absolutes?

• Definition of Moral Absolute
• Defense of Moral Absolute
• Distinctions Relating to Absolutes
• Knowing Moral Absolutes
• Resources

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Moral Absolute Defined

• Meaning of Moral Duty
• B. Meaning of Absolute Moral Duty

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Meaning of Moral Obligation

• Something
• good
• in itself

• NOT merely good as a means to another

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Meaning of Moral Obligation

• Something we ought to do

• A DUTY

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Meaning of Moral Obligation

• A Prescription (ought)

• NOT merely a description (is)

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Meaning of Moral Obligation

• What is right

• As opposed to what is wrong

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Meaning of Moral Obligation

• An obligation

• For which a person is accountable

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Definition of Moral Absolute

• Meaning of Moral Duty
• Meaning of Absolute Moral Duty

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Meaning of Absolute Moral Obligation

• An objective
• (not subjective) obligation

• A duty for all persons, not just some persons

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Meaning of Absolute Moral Obligation

• A perpetual
• (not a temporal) obligation

• A duty at all times, not just for some times

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Meaning of Absolute Moral Obligation

• A universal
• (not a local)
• obligation

• A duty for all
• places, not just some places

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• An Absolute Moral
• Duty is one that is
• binding
• on all persons
• at all times
• in all places!

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Are There Moral Absolutes?

• Definition of Absolute Moral Duty
• Defense of Absolute Moral Duty
• Distinctions Relating to
  Absolutes
• Knowing Moral Absolutes
• Resources

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Defense of Absolute Moral Duty

• Absolutes are Unavoidable
• Relative to What?
• How is True Progress Measured?
• How are Disputes Settled?
• How can opposites be true?

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Absolutes are Unavoidable
Meaningless
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Relative to What?
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Relative to What?

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How is True Progress Measured?

• We cant know the world is getting better (or
  worse) unless we know what is Best

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An Absolute Standard for Measurement
The moment you say that one set of moral ideas
can be better than another, you are, in fact,
measuring them both by a standard, saying that
one of them conforms to that standard more nearly
than the other. But the standard that measures
two things is something different from either.
C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity, p 25.
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How are Disputes Settled?

• Disputes cannot be settled
• without an objective standard to
• appeal to OUTSIDE the dispute!

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How are Disputes Settled?
As an atheist my argument against God was that
the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how
had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man
does not call a line crooked unless he has some
idea of a straight line.
Straight Line Absolute Standard
C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity, p 45.
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The Law of Non-Contradiction

• Two opposites cannot BOTH be right!

• Relativism violates
• this law since it claims both CAN be right!

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The Law of Non-Contradiction
Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction
should be beaten and burned until he admits that
to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten,
and to be burned is not the same as not to be
burned. (Avicenna, Great Medieval Philosopher)
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Are There Moral Absolutes?

• Definition of Absolute Moral Duty
• Defense of Absolute Moral Duty
• Distinctions Relating to Absolutes
• Knowing Moral Absolutes
• Resources

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Distinctions Relating to Absolutes

• Fact vs. Value
• Values vs. Instances
• Values vs. Understanding
• The End vs. The Means
• Command vs. Culture
• Which Value Applies vs. Whether Values Change

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Facts vs. Values

• What people do
• is subject to
• change it is a
• descriptive fact
• of sociology

• What people
• ought to do does
• not change it is
• a prescriptive
• value of morality

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Facts vs. Values

• It seems then we are forced to believe in
  a real Right and Wrong. First, human beings all
  over the earth have this curious idea that they
  ought to behave in a certain way. Second, they do
  not in fact behave in that way. The truth is, we
  believe in decency so much that we cannot bear to
  face the fact that we are breaking it, and
  consequently we try to shift the responsibility.

C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity, p 21.
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Values vs. Instances

• Absolute Moral
• Values do
• NOT change

• But beliefs
• about whether
• a given action
• violates a moral
• value DO change.

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Values vs. Understanding
Witch hunters used to believe witches murdered
people with their curses. Now, we know they do
not.
The moral value of murder did not change.
Peoples understanding of what violated the moral
value did change.
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Values vs. Understanding

• A persons understanding of a moral value can
  change over time. The Moral value itself,
  however, does NOT change.

The truth of a statement resides in its relation
to reality, not in its relation to the
individuals judgment about it. Mortimer J. Adler
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Values vs. Understanding

• A couple understands love better after
• many years.

However, Love didnt change. Their understanding
of it changed.
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The End vs. The Means

• Moral Relativists confuse the End (the moral
  value itself)

• with the Means
• (how to attain the
• moral value)

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The End vs. The Means

• Both pacifists and militarists desire peace in
  the end.

• They simply disagree as to how peace should be
  attained.

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Command vs. Culture

• Just because a moral command is expressed
  differently in different cultures
• DOES NOT MEAN
• The moral command itself differs.

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Command vs. Culture
A kiss of greeting is considered polite in some
cultures. In others it would repel. WHAT should
be done (greeting) is common. HOW it should be
done is different.
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Which Value Applies vs. Whether Values Change

• There are times when the issue is not WHETHER a
  moral value exists and should be applied,

• but WHICH
• moral value should be applied in the given
  situation.

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Which Value Applies vs. Whether Values Change

• A woman contemplating abortion may believe that
  human life
• has value.

• She may have been told that an unborn child is
  not human.

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Conclusion

• Values are ABSOLUTE,
• but our understanding
• and application of them
• are NOT.

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Are There Moral Absolutes?

• Definition of Absolute Moral Duty
• Defense of Absolute Moral Duty
• Distinctions Relating to Absolutes
• Knowing Moral Absolutes
• Resources

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Knowing Absolutes

• God is the basis for all moral absolutes.
• The moral law reflects the Moral Law Giver.

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Knowing Absolutes

• God is love--Love is always right

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Knowing Absolutes

• God is love--Love is always right
• God is just--Justice is always right

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Knowing Absolutes

• God is love--Love is always right
• God is just--Justice is always right
• God is truth--Truth is always right

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Knowing Absolutes

• God is love--Love is always right
• God is just--Justice is always right
• God is truth--Truth is always right
• God is holy--Holiness is always right

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Read More About It.

• Six Great Ideas Mortimer Adler
• Feet Planted Firmly Frank Beckwith
• in Mid-Air
• The Closing of the Alan Bloom
• American Mind
• Christian Ethics Norman Geisler
• The Abolition of Man C.S. Lewis
• Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis

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