Ethical relativism

Answer the following questions with a paragraph or two (unless otherwise instructed). Avoid lengthy quotations and paraphrases.

1. What makes ethical relativism a “startling assertion’?
2. In the dispute between the ethical relativist and the ethical absolutist, why is it a “mere platitude” to observe that what is thought right is one time or place may be thought wrong in another time or place?
3. According to Stace, ethical relativists argue that, because people in different cultures live by different moral standards, there exists no single moral standard by which the conduct of all people can be judged. Stace seeks to show that this argument is in fact invalid by distinguishing between two, quite different senses of the word, “standard.” Explain how these senses of the word differ, supplying synonyms for each of the two senses, and state in which sense, according to Stace, the ethical relativist claims that there is no a single, universal moral “standard.”
4. How does distinguishing between these two senses of the word, “standard,” show that the aforementioned argument for ethical relativism is invalid?
5. According to Stace, how can the ethical absolutist account for the fact that people live by different moral standards if, as he
   asserts, there is a single and universal moral standard by which everyone should live?
6. Analytically summarize the second of the two arguments for ethical relativism that Stace considers. (That is, list the premises and conclusion of this argument.)
7. Regarding the second of the two arguments for ethical relativism: what difficulty does the ethical absolutist face in defending her position that the ethical relativist does not? Why doesn’t this difficulty deter Mr. Stace from taking the ethical absolutist’s position?
8. Stace says that his basic complaint against ethical relativism is that it would, if adopted, end up undermining the very concept of morality. What must he regard as basic to the concept of morality that he sees ethical relativism undermining it?
9. Why would ethical relativism, as Stace states, “make nonsense’ of the concept of moral progress?
10. How, according to Mr. Stace, would the adoption of ethical relativism in practice lead to “morabchaos’?= oleic.

Sample Solution