PHI-10 Lecture 27: Phi-10 - Day 27
Document Summary
First strategy: question the truth of the premise. Two kinds of counter-examples: (i) cases where all or most cultures agree possibilities: murder is wrong; genocide is wrong. (ii) cases where previous disagreements are resolved. possibilities: slavery is wrong; women are moral equals. Second strategy: question the support the premise provides. Even if true , the premise provides weak support for relativism. In general, the existence of disagreement about x is not enough to show relativism about x. People and cultures disagree about whether god exists. But it seems wrong to be a relativist about this. Our beliefs don"t affect whether god exist for not. So, disagreement by itself is not enough to establish relativism. Sometimes we disagree about things with objective answer. The relativist cannot just say because of disagreement . Premise: relativism provides the best explanation of the moral variation and disagreement we observe. Conclusion: therefore, relativism is more likely to be true than objectivism.
