12-25-2025, 05:55 AM
I'm a philosophy undergraduate writing my senior thesis on critiques of moral relativism, and I'm trying to construct a strong counter-argument that doesn't simply default to a rigid absolutism. My thesis advisor suggested I engage with contemporary defenses of relativism that address concerns about moral progress and cross-cultural dialogue. For academics or those well-read in meta-ethics, what are the most compelling modern arguments for a sophisticated relativist position, and how do they handle classic objections like the problem of moral disagreement or justifying social reform? I'm particularly interested in works that bridge analytic and continental traditions or that incorporate insights from anthropology without falling into a simplistic cultural relativism. Which philosophers or texts should be central to my literature review?