letter to the editor
Some things are better left said by Philosophy Professors:
To the Editor (New York Times):
So the new pope thinks that the Western world is afflicted by relativism. When conservatives object to certain moral views, the fashion these days is to call those views relativist. But that is a misnomer.
Moral relativism is the idea that the truth of moral views is relative to what a particular person or group thinks is right. If one group thinks that something is right and another thinks it is wrong, it is right for the first group and wrong for the second.
Those who hold "liberal" views are not relativists. They simply disagree with the conservatives about what is right and wrong.
There is nothing new about moral disagreement. It is part of moral thought and can lead to progress. Nothing is gained by obscuring the disagreement with rhetorical labels.
Bruce M. Landesman
Salt Lake City, April 19, 2005
To the Editor (New York Times):
So the new pope thinks that the Western world is afflicted by relativism. When conservatives object to certain moral views, the fashion these days is to call those views relativist. But that is a misnomer.
Moral relativism is the idea that the truth of moral views is relative to what a particular person or group thinks is right. If one group thinks that something is right and another thinks it is wrong, it is right for the first group and wrong for the second.
Those who hold "liberal" views are not relativists. They simply disagree with the conservatives about what is right and wrong.
There is nothing new about moral disagreement. It is part of moral thought and can lead to progress. Nothing is gained by obscuring the disagreement with rhetorical labels.
Bruce M. Landesman
Salt Lake City, April 19, 2005
posted by jessica at 8:29 AM
1 Comments:
Well, it is all relative. Once you realize that, you can ask yourself, "If the desire to do good and the desire to do evil is the same, what's next?"
Post a Comment
<< Home