Moral relativism

Moral relativism is the philosophy that moral standards vary from society to society, and from time to time in history. Under this theory, ethical principles are not universal and are merely social products. This theory teaches that there is no objective moral order or absolute truth. Variability in what is seen as moral is seen throughout history: with the genocide of the Jews by the Nazi Party, the enslavement of the African people by both European and American powers, the persecution (including torture and murder) of Christians during Roman times and in Communist states, as well as the torture, imprisonment, and murder of scientists during the Eighteenth century by the Catholic Church, all justified by the perpetrators in moral terms.

According to the Discovery Institute:

Moral relativism was uncritically adopted by much of the social sciences, and it still under girds much of modern economics, political science, psychology and sociology. [1]

Examples of Moral Relativism

The use of Waterboarding as an interrogation method is a case where a tactic that led to the war-crime prosecution of a Japanese officer for using it on Americans in WWII was sanctioned by the administration of President George W. Bush for use on for high-value terror suspects. The moral issues in this case are defining when an interrogation technique crosses the line from appropriate to inhumane (torture), and to what extent the risks of a clear and present danger to a nation justify the use of questionably inhumane methods to save innocent lives.

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