道德相对主义很容易和许多非相对主义的观点相混淆,如文化相对主义和参量普遍主义等。道德相对主义有两种:个人相对主义和主体间相对主义。后者认为,道德上的对错依赖于判定其对错的道德框架或道德共识,没有客观的标准可以决定不同的道德框架或道德共识之间的优劣。支持这种道德相对主义的论证包括鉴赏判断类比论证和道德多样性论证。但是,这些论证有着难以克服的缺陷,因为道德判断和鉴赏判断有着本质的区别;而道德客观主义则能够更好地解释道德的多样性。此外,道德相对主义将道德仅仅建立在人们共识的基础上,将道德的要求也仅仅限制在达成共识的人们之间,这不仅导致主观主义,理论上和实践中也会导致许多难以接受的后果。如此说来,寻求客观的道德标准,是解决道德争论、避免道德虚无主义和怀疑主义的必然选择。
Moral relativism is easy to be confused with some non-relativistic views, such as cultural relativism and parametric universalism. There are two moral relativist theories: individual relativism and intersubjective relativism. The latter holds that what is right or wrong is relative to some moral framework or moral consensus (or agreement) and that there is no objective basis for judging which one, among different moral frameworks, is better. Two kinds of arguments are provided for moral relativism: argument from analogy of judgments of taste and arguments from moral diversity. Those arguments are flawed because there is a significant dissimilarity between moral judgments and judgments of taste and moral objectivism can provide a better explanation for moral diversity. If we want to avoid moral skepticism and nihilism, and if moral debates make any sense, we must look for some objective moral standards.