Moral Relativism and True Morality

According to some moral philosophies, true or false is only or mostly relative to some particular standpoint (for instance, that of a culture or a historical period) and that no standpoint or point of view is uniquely privileged over all others as there are no universal or absolute moral principles. In simple words, principles governing what acts are morally right or wrong depend mostly on the particular cultural, historical, and social environment and traditions or values of a society and/or civilization or social group in question. And this seems to be the most accepted view as well.

For instance what can be called right in Muslim societies is not necessarily right in non-Muslim societies.

Thus according to the proponents of “moral relativism” there can’t be an absolute or universal morality.

However there is another view of morality and that is called “moral absolutism.” Advocates of the “moral absolutism” believe that some (if not all) moral principles are universal irrespective of the context and circumstances. In other words they are never culture or society specific and apply everywhere and in every situation. For instance:

• One should never intentionally kill an innocent person or soul. But the problem is that sometimes we can’t truly determine that the murdered person was really innocent or not because our judgments can be wrong as we are not perfect beings. For instance, during so-called war on terror (initiated by the United States following the September 11, 2001…