Ariadne's Thread on Ethical Relativism
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John

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Ayesha

 
 
 
Moral Knowledge

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Fred Speaking
I agree with what you have said about foundations and resolution of disputes. But what about question #4: Is there moral knowledge?

There appears to be one level at which the ethical relativist can claim moral knowledge. Let's assume that when the relativist makes a moral judgment about an action it means that the action conforms to or violates a moral principle that applies to some individual or group. This is a simplified version of what Wong believes.

Now the judgment that the action conforms to a principle or violates it is usually a judgment about the facts pertaining to the action and the principle. We can know in an uncontroversial way that this is true or false.

This is knowledge, but it seems only to apply to moral judgments and not to the principles or standards themselves. What else can the relativist say?


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