Description: Are all moral beliefs and systems relative or do certain moral truths hold for all cultures and people? In Moral Relativism: A Reader this and related questions are addressed by twenty-one contemporary moral philosophers and thinkers. The engaging and non-technical selections are accessible to anyone interested in this pressing dilemma. The book is organized into six main topics: (1) General Issues; (2) Relativism and Moral Diversity; (3) On the Coherence of Moral Relativism; (4) Defense and Criticism; (5) Relativism, Realism, and Rationality; and (6) Case Study on Relativism. Contributors include Ruth Benedict, Philippa Foot, Thomas Nagel, Martha Nussbaum, and T.M. Scanlon, among others. The volume concludes with a case study on female circumcision/genital mutilation that vividly brings into focus the practical aspects and implications of moral relativism.

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