Question

Why does James Rachels think that cultural relativism is not consistent with the common-sense, moral intuition that our society is making moral progress (in the long run, anyway)?

Answer 1

Cultural relativism is the perspective in which a person's ideas, beliefs and ethics should be interpreted based on the culture from which the person comes.

Reasons why James Rachels thinks that cultural relativism is not consisten with common sense and Moral Intuition:

Different cultures have different moral codes:

What may be morally correct in one culture would totally be unacceptable in another. For e.g., The treatment of women in certain cultures is unacceptable when compared to our own.

Such differences in morals put progress in doubt:

If there are moral differences for each culture, how can moral progress happen? It is difficult to consult the society and arrive at a conclusion, for each society has it's own interpretation of morals.

There is no objective truth in morality:

This leads us to the point where there cannot be one truth about morality. When there are drastic differences in how actions are interpreted in one culture versus the other, there is difficulty in establishing what is morally correct. Therefore, on each case there needs to be a new investigation before coming to a conclusion.

All these are Rachels' arguments to prove that cultural relativism is not consistent with common sense and moral intuition.