Characters in the Dialogue on Subjectivism, Relativism, and Objectivism

Contact: Dr. Jan Garrett

Last revised date: January 30, 2008

Dramatis Personae

Theo, the defender of the (Scriptural) Divine Command Theory of Morality. The rules we should follow are just the rules that God endorses. (God's endorsement makes certain rules moral rules.) These rules are revealed in a particular Holy Book.

Theo believes that God wants wives to follow their husbands' lead and opposes premarital sex. He also thinks that God opposes slavery. Yet the important thing here is not content of the rules but what makes a rule one we ought to follow. A divine command theorist might hold that God endorses slavery or complete equality in marriage.

Susie the (ethical) subjectivist. What a person feels is right is indeed right, what a person feels is wrong is indeed wrong. (See quote from Rousseau on p.5)

Rob the (cultural) relativist. The norms of morality are created by particular societies and reflect culturally shared commitments in that society. And that's all they are: there are no norms of morality apart from these, nothing that is right and wrong apart from cultural agreement (p.6)

Olivia the ethical objectivist. There are basic rules of morality, standards or norms that define what is morally right, apart from personal feeling and the cultural norms of particular societies. This is true regardless of whether a person or his culture knows what those norms are.

Comment

Susie and Rob regard Theo as their main opponent, and vice versa.

But Olivia, who does not entirely agree with Theo, sees her position on the basis of morality to be directly opposed to the positions of Susie and Rob. She does not reveal her view all at once but only gradually.