Ariadne's Thread on Ethical Relativism
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Fred
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speaker Ayesha
 
 
 Cultural Relativism

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Ayesha Speaking
Hold on. Before you philosophy people pile on Herskovits, let me point out something here.

I agree that we have to define our terms. But we're skipping something. Herskovits didn't just say that moral systems are different around the world and so no one system is superior to the rest. He said there was no way to show or prove that one system was superior to the others. That's crucial.

So here are more questions:

  • What does it mean to say that one moral system is superior to another?
  • Is there a way to prove that one moral system is superior to the others?
  • Is there a way to prove that one moral system is correct and the others are not? What would 'correct' mean in this context?
  • Can scientific methods prove that one moral system is superior or correct?

Everything has to be put in the form of a question for you philosophers. I feel like I'm on Jeopardy.


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