Moral Relativism A Reader

Summary

Are all moral truths relative or do certain moral truths hold for all cultures and people? In Moral Relativism: A Reader, this and related questions are addressed by twenty-one contemporary moral philosophers and thinkers. This engaging and nontechnical anthology, the only up-to-datecollection devoted solely to the topic of moral relativism, is accessible to a wide range of readers including undergraduate students from various disciplines. The selections are organized under six main topics: (1) General Issues; (2) Relativism and Moral Diversity; (3) On the Coherence of MoralRelativism; (4) Defense and Criticism; (5) Relativism, Realism, and Rationality; and (6) Case Study on Relativism. Contributors include Ruth Benedict, Richard Brandt, Thomas L. Carson, Philippa Foot, Gordon Graham, Gilbert Harman, Loretta M. Kopelman, David Lyons, J. L. Mackie, Michele Moody-Adams,Paul K. Moser, Thomas Nagel, Martha Nussbaum, Karl Popper, Betsy Postow, James Rachels, W. D. Ross, T. M. Scanlon, William Graham Sumner, and Carl Wellman. The volume concludes with a case study on female circumcision/genital mutilation that vividly brings into focus the practical aspects andimplications of moral relativism. An ideal primary text for courses in moral relativism, Moral Relativism: A Reader can also be used as a supplementary text for introductory courses in ethics and for courses in various disciplines--anthropology, sociology, theology, political science, and cultural studies--that discussrelativism. The volume's pedagogical and research value is enhanced by a topical bibliography on moral relativism and a substantial general introduction that includes explanatory summaries of the twenty selections.

Preface

Introduction

(24)

PART ONE General Issues

Ethical Relativism

(7)

Richard Brandt

Facts, Standards, and Truth: A Further Criticism of Relativism

(21)

Karl Popper

The Challenge of Cultural Relativism

(16)

James Rachels

PART TWO Relativism and Moral Diversity

Folkways

(11)

William Graham Sumner

Anthropology and the Abnormal

(10)

Ruth Benedict

The Meaning of Right

(3)

W. D. Ross

The Empirical Underdetermination of Descriptive Cultural Relativism

(14)

Michele Moody-Adams

The Ethical Implications of Cultural Relativity

107

(16)

Carl Wellman

PART THREE On the Coherence of Moral Relativism

Dishonest Relativism

123

(4)

Betsy Postow

Ethical Relativism and the Problem of Incoherence

127

(15)

David Lyons

Fear of Relativism

142

(23)

T. M. Scanlon

PART FOUR Defense and Criticism

Is There a Single True Morality?

165

(20)

Gilbert Harman

Moral Relativism

185

(14)

Philippa Foot

Non-Relative Virtues

199

(27)

Martha Nussbaum

Tolerance, Pluralism, and Relativism

226

(15)

Gordon Graham

Ethics

241

(18)

Thomas Nagel

PART FIVE Relativism, Realism, and Rationality

The Subjectivity of Values

259

(18)

J. L. Mackie

Relativism Refuted?

277

(10)

Richard Brandt

Relativism and Normative Nonrealism: Basing Morality on Rationality

287

(20)

Thomas L. Carson

Paul K. Moser

PART SIX Case Study on Relativism

Female Circumcision/Genital Mutilation and Ethical Relativism

307

(20)

Loretta M. Kopelman

Bibliography

327

(6)

Index

333

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