Ariadne's Thread on Ethical Relativism
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Fred Speaking
I think we have to be very careful with the subject of interference. It raises a question about the very nature of morality.

I would claim that one of the essential social functions of a system of morality is to control behavior. I know that sounds 'illiberal,' but I think it's true.

It we box ourselves into a corner in which there can be no interference between cultures, we may be forced to the conclusion that there can be no interference between individuals within a culture either. In that case, morality no longer to constrains behavior at all. It is questionable at that point whether we are still talking about morality. It is no longer morality in any sociological sense. What I mean by that is that it no longer has any of the social functions that morality normally has.


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