> standards are not self-evident or universal; this has
been well documented in historical and anthropological
research. I guess people don't think through the
consequences of this:
This is pretty condescending, Miles: if people disagree with with you, they jus havedn't thought throught the matter deeply enough?
> if there is no universally agreed
upon gold standard for morality, then it is incoherent
for anyone to claim that the moral standards in one
society should be used to judge the behavior in another.
No, I'm sorry, it's not incoherent. Disagreement doesn't mean that no one's right, just that someone's not right. There is also disagreement about evolution, but is certainly not incoherent to say that the creatists (or the evolutionaists, depending on your position) are jsut mistaken.
And conversely, universal agreement doesn't gurantee correctness. Once upon a time everyone thought the woreld was flat and slavery was fine. They were wrong about both things.
> Cultural relativism? I guess. But I think it's important
to keep in mind that moral certitude through the ages
(think the Crusades, the Inquisition, the rise of the
Nazis, Vietnam, Iraq today) have led to far more chaos
and problems than the position I'm outlining above.
> Is that an argument in my favor? --Depends on your
moral standards!
No, this is a really profound confusion. It is no argument in favor of relativism that it would have better consequences because it promoted tolerance. That is a ultilitarian and absolutist argument for making youirself believe in relativism. It has no relation to the truth of the doctrine.
Besides, even if you think, as I do that it's not a bad idea to bear in mind that you might be wrong, that doesn't mean that you need any commitment to relativism -- to the idea that there is no fact of the matter about who is right. In fact quite the opposite: you can't be modest and believe that you might be wrong if there is no right answer. If all views are equally good, the Inquisition and the Nazis are as good as King and Gandhi.
jks
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