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96 pages

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"An extremely well-researched, intellectual approach to the problem of relativism and its effect on education, public policy, and our everyday lives." --Youthworker

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Philosophy of religion

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 octobre 1998
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781585582099
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0490€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Relativism
R elativism
Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air
Francis J. Beckwith and Gregory Koukl
1998 by Francis J. Beckwith and Gregory Koukl
Published by Baker Books a division of Baker Publishing Group P. O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakerbooks.com
E-book edition created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-5855-8209-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.
To W. Howard Hoffman, M. D. Your generosity, encouragement, and friendship continue to be a testimony to your commitment to what is true, good, and beautiful. It is a privilege and a blessing to be a recipient of your personal and professional virtue.
-Francis J. Beckwith
To my brother Mark, who started me on this journey, and to my brother Dave, who began the adventure with me.
-Gregory Koukl
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Who Are You to Judge?
Part 1: Understanding Relativism
1. The Death of Truth
2. What Is Moral Relativism?
3. Three Kinds of Relativism
Part 2: Critiquing Relativism
4. Culture as Morality
5. Culture Defining Morality
6. Moral Common Sense
7. Relativism s Seven Fatal Flaws
Part 3: Relativism and Education
8. Values Clarification
9. Relativism s Offspring: Political Correctness and Multiculturalism
10. On the Road to Barbarism
Part 4: Relativism and Public Policy
11. Relativism and the Law
12. Relativism and the Meaning of Marriage
13. Relativism and the Meaning of Life
Part 5: Responding to Relativism
14. Tactics to Refute Relativism
15. Monkey Morality
16. Why Morality?
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
A number of people deserve special acknowledgment for the parts they played in influencing and shaping my contribution to this book. First and foremost, my wife, A Frankie, for her encouragement, support, love, and direction, whose presence never ceases to remind me that I may know a thing or two about the universe as a whole, but it is the particular things in it with which I have difficulty. A warm thank you to my students at Trinity International University, and those whom I had the privilege to teach at Whittier College (1996-97) and UNLV (1987-96), whose questions and insights, and intellectual prodding, have forced me to sharpen some of the arguments in this text. Amy Boucher Pye s editorial work and suggestions helped make my chapters accessible to a much wider audience.
Finally, I wish to thank some contemporary scholars who have had a strong influence on my intellectual development as well as the type of argument I present in this book: J. P. Moreland, Phillip Johnson, Hadley Arkes, John Warwick Montgomery, Michael Bauman, Francis Canavan, and Robert P. George. Any stature I may attain is the result of the shoulders on which I sit.
-Francis J. Beckwith
I m indebted to a handful of people whose assistance was vital in the development of my thinking and the writing of this book. The late Dr. Francis Schaeffer provided a foundation for my thinking, and the very alive J. P. Moreland continues to build elegantly on that foundation, along with my other mentors in the philosophy department at Talbot School of Theology.
I received valuable editing help from Amy Boucher Pye at Baker, from Susan Titus-Osborne of Christian Communicators, and from Nancy Ulrich of Stand to Reason. I am also deeply indebted to the hard workers at Stand to Reason-especially Melinda Penner-for their continuous insight, encouragement, vision, and challenge.
Finally, I want to thank the thousands of people who over the years have called me during my radio program and given me a piece of their mind.
-Gregory Koukl
Introduction
Who Are You to Judge?
I n America today we seem to think nothing of keeping The Book of Virtues and The Bridges of Madison County together on our coffee tables. And in these United States we say we firmly believe that truth and morality are relative while simultaneously decrying the absence of virtue and the rise of incivility.
We believe, or say we believe, that all people have a right to their own opinion-except those who hold that some opinions are better than others (though we believe that our opinion about them is better than their opinion about us). Our academic culture holds to the tenets of moral relativism while marginalizing those who apparently violate its rules against insensitivity, intolerance, and political incorrectness. We want to have our cake and eat it too.
And yet, despite this cultural equivalent of a multiple personality disorder, our headlines are filled with ethical, moral, and social issues, from abortion to physician-assisted suicide to affirmative action. Unfortunately, many today seem to assume that rational discussion has no place in the conflicts over moral questions and that no answers to such questions exist. Many believe that we are simply stuck with our opinions and that all opinions are relative-having no basis in any objective or unchanging moral truths.
Sex, Laws, and Videotapes
In the fall of 1992, I (Francis Beckwith) took part in a panel discussion on morality in the media. Sponsored by the Clark County Bar Association of Southern Nevada, the panel s purpose was to discuss the media s responsibility for the broadcasting of programs that contain sex, violence, and obscenity. Among the participants were two radio shock jocks, two attorneys (one of whom was a strong feminist), the owner of a phone sex line, the general manager of a local television station, a mother who schools her children at home, a Christian radio disc jockey, a television reporter, and me, a philosopher.
I agreed with most of the participants that government censorship is not the answer to our problems with the media. But I also made the point that a lack of censorship should not prevent the media from making moral judgments about their programming or from being concerned about how such programming may affect young people and the general populace negatively.
Immediately following these comments, a distressed young woman in the audience raised her hand and asked me the pointed question, Who are you to judge? This question, of course, was not meant to be answered. It was not an inquiry from someone seeking after truth but rather was a rhetorical question. For the young lady was really saying: Dr. Beckwith, you have no right to make moral judgments about individuals or society.
Though the question was not intended to be answered, I responded anyway: I certainly do have a right to make moral judgments. I am a rational human person who is aware of certain fundamental principles of logical and moral reasoning. I think I m qualified. This response absolutely shocked her. I continued, Your claim that I have no right to make judgments is itself a judgment about me. Your claim, therefore, is self-refuting.
Although the audience was brought to laughter by this exchange, the young woman s question is a serious one raised by many people in our contemporary culture. It is serious because it assumes moral relativism, the view that when it comes to moral issues there are no universally objective right or wrong answers, no inappropriate or appropriate judgments, and no reasonable or rational ways by which to make moral distinctions that apply in every time, in every place, and to every person. Some people who espouse moral relativism seem to be saying that only subjective opinions exist, which are no different from one s feelings about a favorite football team, movie star, or ice cream flavor.
But the young woman in the audience did not fully comprehend the scope of her espousal of moral relativism. Although it is quite appealing in a culture whose elites instruct us to be tolerant, open-minded, and nonjudgmental (even though, ironically, such values are inconsistent with moral relativism), people who embrace this view rarely take it to its logical conclusion.
For to deny the existence of universally objective moral distinctions, one must admit that Mother Teresa was no more or less moral than Adolf Hitler, that torturing three-year-olds for fun is neither good nor evil, that giving 10 percent of one s financial surplus to an invalid is neither praiseworthy nor condemnable, that raping a woman is neither right nor wrong, and that providing food and shelter for one s spouse and children is neither a good thing nor a bad thing.
A Joint Response
It is in this climate of contradiction, inconsistency, and even coercion that Gregory Koukl and I address moral relativism, the unofficial creed of much of American culture, especially in the areas of education, law, and public policy. We write not merely to critique, but to equip all those who seek the truth in an age of confusion.
Although there are other types of relativism,[ 1 ] we will deal only with moral relativism, except for a brief portion of chapter 9 where we assess the views of those who argue that morality is relative because no knowledge, including moral knowledge, is objective.
It is evident that relativism has infested our society, affecting nearly every aspect of our public culture. The purpose of this book is to confront the challenge of relativism in a way that is not only intellectually rigorous but accessible to ordinary people who will be confronted by relativism in a number of different places, including their child s school curriculum, workplace conversations, the college classroom, the public square, and the church.
For all the complaints that conservatives have raised against relativism, there has been precious little published that can help people in their daily lives, including in the university classroom. This book is an attempt to mee