Re: Human Rights and Relativism

Cliff Sloane (cesloane@MAROON.TC.UMN.EDU)
Fri, 29 Apr 1994 00:20:56 -0500

Ray Scupin's posting raises an issue that Dwight Read seems to ignore. We
are not talking about something like religious conversion, or covering
women's bare breasts, or even some of the more egregious abuses of the
past. His posting calls into question the limits of relativism, the point
at which a laissez-faire stance becomes itself untenable. Isn't death or
enslavement a bit more serious than abstract moral judgements (as in
missionary hubris)? Wouldn't sexual slavery fall into a different
category, one that demands that we abandon neutrality?

Of course, there are no clear answers. I find Ray's posting one that
raises an important question. I would hope we could discuss where those
limits may lie.

Cliff Sloane