Objection · Case 05 · Relativism
Rachels rejects cultural relativism but is a secular philosopher who thinks morality can be grounded without God. Doesn’t citing him prove only that cultural relativism fails, not that theism succeeds?
One objection from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Response
Correct, and that is the only thing he is cited for. Rachels is one of the thoughtful people who argue that objective morality can stand without God, and his presence here shows that rejecting cultural relativism is not a religious position. Whether morality can be grounded without God is a separate question, taken up in the exhibit on a transcendent moral source and in the Atheism case.
About this exhibit
This objection is to Cultural consensus, or cultural relativism, as in James Rachels.
The cultural relativist says right and wrong are set by each society, so morality is a shared convention that lets a community function. James Rachels lays out this position carefully in “The…