PHILOS 2YY3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Satisfaction Theory Of Atonement, Divine Command Theory, Louis Pojman
27 Sep 2016
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Problem of contradiction: a moral judgment is true because it correctly describes what society stands for, but different societies stand for different things --- both cannot be right. Ie: the statement it is good for women to be treated as full persons under the law cannot be simultaneously true and false in the world (because 2 societies see it differently) Premise 1: any theory that generates contradictions is false. Ie: society that does not treat women as humans, cannibalism, etc. Premise 1: a society"s ultimate standards and principles are infallible. Premise 2: infallibility entails never getting any moral principles wrong. Premise 3: society does sometimes get moral principles wrong. Problem posed by moral progress: cultural relativism can not make sense of moral progress --- if society"s moral beliefs are true by definition, then they cannot change for the better. A society"s values may change, but they can"t be morally improved if they were already morally right.
