• Objective moral theories: claim that what

is morally right or wrong is universally so,

independently of our own opinions (i.e.,
applicable to all people at all times).

• Subjective moral theories: do not claim

believe that what is right and wrong to all
people at all times.
– The 2 main types of subjective theories are
cultural relativism and subjectivism.
 Today’s Question
• There is not one set of moral values/rules
that should apply to all people. What is
(legitimately) morally right for one person,
in one set of circumstances, isn’t
necessarily (legitimately) morally right for
another, in those same circumstances.
• Do you agree, or disagree?
 Objective Moral Theories
[Diagram images not on website--sorry]

True Moral Values

Culture A’s Values v. Culture B’s Values

My values v. Your Values

 Cultural Relativism

Culture A’s Values Culture B’s Values

My values v. Your values

 Cultural Differences

• Cultural differences
observation:  what is
believed to be right
and wrong (normal
and deviant) varies
across cultures.
Cultural Differences
 Cultural Differences

Cultural differences observation: 

– Descriptive, not prescriptive,
– what is believed to be right/wrong,
acceptable/unacceptable, normal/weird varies
across cultures.
 “Normal” = Moral?
“Normality, in short, within a very wide range, is culturally
defined. . . . We recognize that morality differs in every
society, and is a convenient term for socially approved
habits. Mankind has always preferred to say ‘It is morally
good’ rather than ‘It is habitual,” and the fact of this
preference is matter enough for a critical science of ethics.
But historically the two phrases are synonymous.”—Ruth
Benedict

1.Normality is culturally defined.

2.“Normality” and “morality” are synonymous terms.
3.Therefore, morality is culturally defined.
 Cultural Relativism
•  All moral principles are valid, relative to
one’s culture.

• If something is wrong in one’s culture, then

it is wrong for that culture--but it does not
mean that it is wrong for all other cultures
as well.
 Why Should We Accept CR?
The Argument From Tolerance
• Some people believe that toleration and respect for
diversity is a product of CR.
– To the extent that one values tolerance and respect for diversity, CR
will seem like a valuable theory.

1. If morality is relative to its culture, then there is no

independent basis for criticizing the moral values of any
other culture.
2. If there is no independent way of criticizing any other
culture, then we ought to be tolerant of the moral values
and practices of other cultures.
3. Morality is relative to culture (CR).
4. Therefore, (by 1-3) we ought to be tolerant of the moral
values and practices of other cultures.

Those who believe CR requires tolerance/respect are

MISTAKEN. It does not.
 Why the Argument from Tolerance is Flawed
• Who are “we” who should be tolerant?
1. All persons everywhere?
2. One’s own culture?

• If (1), then this suggests a universal moral principle

(everyone should be tolerant). This contradicts cultural
relativism.
• If (2), then we must ask whether the culture in question
values tolerance.
– If yes, then the suggestion is pointless. The culture already
values tolerance on its own.
– If no, then the argument is suggesting that someone go against
the values of her culture—a violation of the demands of cultural
relativism!

• Summary: CR does not actually require “tolerance”—

though some particular cultures might.
 Possible Problems w/ Relativism

(1) It allows no objective

stance from which to
evaluate other
cultures’ values.
– Slavery?
– Child brides?
– Honor killings?
– Death penalty?
– Sweatshops?
– Human sacrifice?
– Gender differences?   
 FGM
• Variants: removal of the clitoris, removal of the labia (majora, minora),
infibulation.
• Physical effects: pain, infections, transmission of HIV, fatality as a result
of shock or hemorrhage, sexual frigidity, genital malformation, delayed
menarche, chronic pelvic complications, recurrent urinary retention and
infection, sterility, etc.
• Who?: Girls. 135 million worldwide. 6,000 each day.
• When?: Girls aged 3 to the onset of puberty (the age varies depending
on the type of the ritual and the customs of the local village or region).
• Why?: A girl who is not circumcised is considered "unclean" by local
villagers and therefore unmarriageable. A girl who does not have her
clitoris removed is considered a great danger and ultimately fatal to a
man if her clitoris touches his penis. Local custom. Family honor,
cleanliness, protection against spells, insurance of virginity and
faithfulness to the husband . . .
• Where?: Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania in East Africa
to the West African coast, from Sierra Leone to Mauritania, and in all
countries in-between including Nigeria. Areas of the Middle East such
as in Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Infibulation is practiced on all females, almost without exception, in all
of Somalia and wherever ethnic Somalis live (Ethiopia, Kenya and
Djibouti). It is also performed throughout the Nile Valley, including
Southern Egypt, and all along the Red Seas Coast.
(2) Reformers are always morally wrong

Tiananmen square protests, 1989

 Nelson Mandela, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi,
Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Harvey Milk
 Rosa Parks (2-4-1913 – 10-24-2005)
“. . . Rosa Parks ignited the most significant social movement in modern
American history to finish the work that spawned the Civil War and
redeem the promise of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. For 50
more years, she moved beyond the bus, continuing her work on that
promise. It was my honor to present her with the Presidential Medal of
Freedom and to join the leaders of Congress in presenting her with a
Congressional Gold Medal. I remember well when she sat with Hillary in
the box of the first family at the State of the Union Address in 1999 and
how the entire Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, rose as
one to recognize that she had made us all better people in a better
country. . . .”—President Bill Clinton, speaking at Rosa Parks’ funeral.

[update: the hyperlinks mentioned in the audio are no longer valid, and have been removed.]
(3) “Culture” is a vague concept.
• “culture:” the customary beliefs, social forms, and
material traits of a racial, religious, or social group

• What is the “culture” to which one looks for one’s

values?
United States? “Blue states?”
California? Southern California?
Whittier? Your religious affiliation?
Ethnic heritage? Your generation?
– How big does a group have to be to count as a “culture?”

Does just any group count as a legitimate “culture?”

N.A.M.B.L.A.?

• If we can’t identify our “culture” (especially in pluralistic

societies), and if culture is supposed to be our guide,
then is this a problem for cultural relativism?
 Might there be more universality
than there appears?

• Can we imagine a community surviving

that had no shared value for honesty and
the value of “innocent” life?
• Might our differences amount to different
expressions of the same core values?
• If so, there would be at least some values
in the set of “True Moral Values”. . .