Socrates on Unrighteousness

“Neither in war nor yet at law ought any man to use every way of escaping death. For often in battle there is no doubt that if a man will throw away his arms, and fall on his knees before his pursuers, he may escape death; and in other dangers there are other ways of escaping death, if a man is willing to say and do anything. The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death.” - Socrates, Apology

Dr. Michael Gorman on Moral Relativism

The Thomistic Institute has yet again produced another great lecture, this one by Dr. Michael Gorman on the topic of moral relativism. The talk is titled, "True for Me, but Not for You? Moral Relativism and Public Life." Listen to it here.

Dr. Gorman raises two good points about relativism. The first is that total relativism, the claim that all truth is relative to each person, is unworkable. As discussed in a previous post, total relativism is incoherent when applied to itself. Total relativism undermines objective truth claims while simultaneously making an objective truth claim.

The second point is about the illegitimate use of partial relativism. Partial relativism is a more modest claim. It states that only some truths are relative to each person, such as the truths of morality, whereas the truths of science are not. Unlike total relativism, partial relativism, does not (seemingly) undermine itself. 

However, as Dr. Gorman rightly demonstrates, those that shout "All morality is relative!" in order to prevent the stoning of an adulterer, do not have a leg to stand on. Who are you to say that stoning an adulterer is wrong after all?