Moral relativism does not necessarily entail that if society approves of torture, then torture is “okay.” It only entails that it’s okay relative to that culture’s moral standards. But it does not follow that other individuals or cultures must also think it’s okay. They can think it’s not okay.
Relativism holds that moral claims are true or false relative to the standards of individuals or groups. So a claim like “torture is not wrong,” would mean something like “torture is not inconsistent with our culture’s moral standards.” If it isn’t inconsistent with a culture’s moral standards, the statement would be trivially true. Furthermore, an appraiser relativist does not have to tolerate another individual or culture with different moral standards acting in accordance with those moral standards. At best, only certain forms of agent relativism which hold that an action is morally right or wrong relative to the standards of the agent performing an act (or that agent’s culture). As Gowans notes in the SEP entry on agent and appraiser relativism:
”[...] that to which truth or justification is relative may be the persons making the moral judgments or the persons about whom the judgments are made. These are sometimes called appraiser and agent relativism respectively. Appraiser relativism suggests that we do or should make moral judgments on the basis of our own standards, while agent relativism implies that the relevant standards are those of the persons we are judging (of course, in some cases these may coincide). Appraiser relativism is the more common position, and it will usually be assumed in the discussion that follows.”
Are you rejecting agent relativism, appraiser relativism, or both with your example of torture?
As far as most philosophers not being relativists: this isn’t to say you’re mistaken (since that’s also my impression) but what are you basing that conclusion off of?
I agree relativism doesn’t entail that—cultural relativism does, however. Cultural relativism holds that right means approved of by my culture. This applies to both appraiser and agent relativism—as long as someone thinks something is right just because it’s supported by society, it will have a similar reductio.
Moral relativism does not necessarily entail that if society approves of torture, then torture is “okay.” It only entails that it’s okay relative to that culture’s moral standards. But it does not follow that other individuals or cultures must also think it’s okay. They can think it’s not okay.
Relativism holds that moral claims are true or false relative to the standards of individuals or groups. So a claim like “torture is not wrong,” would mean something like “torture is not inconsistent with our culture’s moral standards.” If it isn’t inconsistent with a culture’s moral standards, the statement would be trivially true. Furthermore, an appraiser relativist does not have to tolerate another individual or culture with different moral standards acting in accordance with those moral standards. At best, only certain forms of agent relativism which hold that an action is morally right or wrong relative to the standards of the agent performing an act (or that agent’s culture). As Gowans notes in the SEP entry on agent and appraiser relativism:
”[...] that to which truth or justification is relative may be the persons making the moral judgments or the persons about whom the judgments are made. These are sometimes called appraiser and agent relativism respectively. Appraiser relativism suggests that we do or should make moral judgments on the basis of our own standards, while agent relativism implies that the relevant standards are those of the persons we are judging (of course, in some cases these may coincide). Appraiser relativism is the more common position, and it will usually be assumed in the discussion that follows.”
Are you rejecting agent relativism, appraiser relativism, or both with your example of torture?
As far as most philosophers not being relativists: this isn’t to say you’re mistaken (since that’s also my impression) but what are you basing that conclusion off of?
I agree relativism doesn’t entail that—cultural relativism does, however. Cultural relativism holds that right means approved of by my culture. This applies to both appraiser and agent relativism—as long as someone thinks something is right just because it’s supported by society, it will have a similar reductio.
What’s the reductio, exactly?