Applied Ethics and Moral Relativism

Applied ethics tests moral theories against real problems, and few problems press harder on our theories than the question of whether morality is objective at all. This final lesson examines moral relativism and its rivals, then turns to a concrete applied case—the ethics of how we treat animals and the sick—to show theory at work.

Objectivism, subjectivism, and relativism

Moral objectivism holds that at least some moral claims are true independently of what any individual or culture believes. On this view, "slavery is unjust" was true even in societies that practiced and approved of slavery. Moral subjectivism holds that moral judgments merely report or express the attitudes of the individual making them; if I say "euthanasia is wrong," I am really saying something about my own feelings,