I think that moral relativism - the idea that right and wrong depend entirely on one's cultural context or personal preference - is intellectually bankrupt and genuinely dangerous
Sam Harris
(I don't always agree with Harris, but on this issue he has a good point)
He does, but he really has terrible arguments (on morality, at least). I think the anti-relativist is pushed most powerfully/successfully by Sami Pihlström in Pragmatic Moral Realism, but there's lots of good, meaty defenses of moral objectivism out there.
It is odd seeing a quote like this (from Harris, a professed atheist) denouncing relativism. I can't summon up the argument right now, but it seems possible to me that relativism and theism are mutually exclusive concepts. Theism seems to me to necessarily entail absolutism. Thus, theism is at odds with relativism. Thus, atheism would seem to be, if not at odds with absolutism, at least bedfellows with relativism. So I wonder if Harris isn't merely kidding himself. I know I haven't demonstrated anything here. Just expressing a hunch.
Well, he's misrepresented moral relativism, for one thing.
A lot of things go into the determination of rightness or wrongness. Cultural context and personal preference are but two of those - and fairly minor ones at that.
Moral relativism is consistent with believing that judgments of right and wrong ought to be determined by observation, experience and reason. Indeed, many (including myself) argue that relativism is the *only* possible outcome of such an approach, that it is the absolutist that roots morality in personal preference or culture.
4 comments:
He does, but he really has terrible arguments (on morality, at least). I think the anti-relativist is pushed most powerfully/successfully by Sami Pihlström in Pragmatic Moral Realism, but there's lots of good, meaty defenses of moral objectivism out there.
Thanks -- I'll try to find it!
It is odd seeing a quote like this (from Harris, a professed atheist) denouncing relativism. I can't summon up the argument right now, but it seems possible to me that relativism and theism are mutually exclusive concepts. Theism seems to me to necessarily entail absolutism. Thus, theism is at odds with relativism. Thus, atheism would seem to be, if not at odds with absolutism, at least bedfellows with relativism. So I wonder if Harris isn't merely kidding himself. I know I haven't demonstrated anything here. Just expressing a hunch.
Well, he's misrepresented moral relativism, for one thing.
A lot of things go into the determination of rightness or wrongness. Cultural context and personal preference are but two of those - and fairly minor ones at that.
Moral relativism is consistent with believing that judgments of right and wrong ought to be determined by observation, experience and reason. Indeed, many (including myself) argue that relativism is the *only* possible outcome of such an approach, that it is the absolutist that roots morality in personal preference or culture.
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