Moral Relativism A Reader

by Moser, Paul K.; Carson, Thomas L.

• ISBN13: 9780195131307
• ISBN10: 0195131304
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-08-10
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

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.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(24)
PART ONE General Issues
Ethical Relativism	25	(7)
Richard Brandt
Facts, Standards, and Truth: A Further Criticism of Relativism	32	(21)
Karl Popper
The Challenge of Cultural Relativism	53	(16)
James Rachels
PART TWO Relativism and Moral Diversity
Folkways	69	(11)
William Graham Sumner
Anthropology and the Abnormal	80	(10)
Ruth Benedict
The Meaning of Right	90	(3)
W. D. Ross
The Empirical Underdetermination of Descriptive Cultural Relativism	93	(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