PHIL1011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Coriander, Cultural Relativism, Relativism
16 Jun 2018
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Lecture 4- hue o reaso ad
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Are Ethical Statements Speaker Independent?
• Supposing ethical statement are truth apt, are they true in virtue of facts
about the speaker?
Speaker-independent
- The earth is not flat
- God exists
- Wombats have rootless teeth
Speaker dependent
- Coriander tastes great
- Smoking marijuana is fun
Relativism
• Moral statement are truth-apt, but speaker dependent
• Moral claims can be true or false, but they are true or false partially in
virtue of facts about the speaker
• Cultural relativism version of relativism that claims the relevant facts
concern what culture the speaker belongs to
Why believe in Cultural Relativism
The Appeal to Moral Disagreement
1. There is a massive moral disagreement across culture
2. The best explanation for such massive disagreement is CR
Objection from Other Intercultural Disagreements
• Claim 2^
• Objection: we should not explain intercultural disagreement via
culturally relative truth
Anti-Majoritarian Argument
1. Is CR were true, then we could figure out all the moral facts by taking an
accurate opinion poll in our society
2. But we cannot figure out all the moral facts this way
3. So CR is not true
Since CR defines rightness/wrongness in terms of prevailing attitude, seems an
obvious consequence.
Intercultural Humility
• We should take great care in criticizing cultures very different from our
own
• Understanding life requires sensitivity and effort
• Don’t engage in criticism with no knowledge of societies
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Document Summary
Relativism: moral statement are truth-apt, but speaker dependent. Moral claims can be true or false, but they are true or false partially in virtue of facts about the speaker: cultural relativism version of relativism that claims the relevant facts concern what culture the speaker belongs to. The appeal to moral disagreement: there is a massive moral disagreement across culture, the best explanation for such massive disagreement is cr. Objection from other intercultural disagreements: claim 2, objection: we should not explain intercultural disagreement via (cid:498)culturally relative truth(cid:499) Since cr defines rightness/wrongness in terms of prevailing attitude, seems an obvious consequence. Intercultural humility: we should take great care in criticizing cultures very different from our own, understanding life requires sensitivity and effort, don"t engage in criticism with no knowledge of societies. Metaethical views: realism: truth-apt, speaker independent, sometimes true, error theory: truth apt, speaker independent, but systematically false, non-cognitivism: non truth-apt. Id: non-moralized, non rational of instinctual unconscious desires.
