Comment on Philosophy meme

• balderdash9@lemmy.zip ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The point is that slavery was seen as morally acceptable at some time and the moral relativist is forced to say that that means slavery was okay during that time. Most people here want to be moral relativists but they don’t want to accept its consequences.

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  • GCostanzaStepOnMe@feddit.de ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I think you don’t quite understand moral relativism.

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    • poplargrove@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      No they understand just fine. Here’s a quote from an ethics book that gets at the same issue:

      The extreme sexism at the heart of honor killings is but one of many examples that raise doubts about cultural relativism. After all, societies are sometimes based on principles of slavery, of warlike aggression, of religious bigotry or ethnic oppression. Cultural relativism would turn these core ideals into iron-clad moral duties, making cooperation with slavery, sexism, and racism the moral duty of all citizens of those societies. The iconoclast—the person deeply opposed to conventional wisdom—would, by definition, always be morally mistaken. This has struck many people as seriously implausible.

      Russ Shaffer-Landau - The fundamentals of ethics p.293 (“Some Implications of Ethical Subjectivism and Cultural Relativism”)

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      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Cultural relativism would turn these core ideals into iron-clad moral duties

        Without knowing the context for this paragraph, this statement sounds like utter bullshit.

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      • GCostanzaStepOnMe@feddit.de ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        But most people don’t believe this.

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  • Feathercrown@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I don’t think the slaves ever saw slavery as acceptable.

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    • FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      There were Roman slaves devoted to their masters. They sometimes married them and often too their master’s surname name when they were freed. So yes, some slaves saw slavery as acceptable.

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• poplargrove@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  OP worded it badly, but you should be arguing against what they probably mean, not a strawman. Consensus obviously cant mean every single person agreeing, its about what the widespread view in the culture is.

  So, how would you reply? Was slavery correct in the past because thats what the cultural view was? If a society is mysognist are they right?

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  • Cryophilia@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    suppose slavery was condone by some culture. Wouldnt that have made it moral?

    By definition, yes.

    Southern whites in the pre Civil War period considered slavery to be a moral good.

    Other cultures disagreed, to the point that this particular culture was all but destroyed.

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    • poplargrove@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      When I asked if slavery was right for them, I wasnt trying to describe their attitudes. I am saying that a consequence of thinking cultural relativism is true is that you must admit that they were correct in the attitudes they held (because their culture agreed it was right).

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      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        a consequence of thinking cultural relativism is true is that you must admit that they were correct in the attitudes they held

        No, and that’s stupid.

        Let me clarify, because I want to make sure you understand. I’m not saying that I have a different take. I’m not saying that perhaps you misunderstand. I’m saying that’s a fundamentally stupid thing to believe.

        The whole point of relativism is that your simplistic concept of ANYTHING being “correct” is wrong. It’s relative. It’s not correct. Nothing is correct. Some people just thought it was correct.

        Relativism says there is no objective truth but you’re just for some reason trying to say that relativism believes in objective truth but only for supporting bad things. It’s a ridiculous, childish take on a philosophy and I’m having trouble understanding how you could come to that conclusion. It has the intellectual rigor of “I am rubber you are glue”.

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