I am enjoying this book though I’m taking it slow. Just to understand and relate to something and find the correct term, such as the difference between cultural relativism (different cultures have completely different beliefs about morality) and ethical relativism (taking it further into believing that what is right for that culture is morally right for them). I have always leaned towards this latter stance, whether grounded in Catholic teaching that for a mortal sin to be mortal it has to 1) be seriously wrong, 2) the sinner must know that it is seriously wrong, and 3) go ahead and do it anyway, or otherwise personally established standards. It is my basis for excusing and an attempt at understanding the terrorist activity of 9/11.
But the book leads us into areas that cannot be so readily answered. Reason must enter the argument and that’s not as simple as it sounds. Opposing viewpoints, pros and cons on each side, proving, arguing, until a viable and maybe not ultimate but a reasonable conclusion can be drawn.
This getting my feet wet in ethical theory may not put me on one side or the other of issues in firm standing, but I hope it will offer me a way to travel the road to an end.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology