  The minimum requirements of a moral theory: reason and impartiality.
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Reason
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 If we can't give reasons for our moral judgements, our judgements are arbitrary.
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If your claim is not backed by reason, it would be considered irrational (or unreasonable). We have no reason to take seriously claims or moral judgements which are not backed by reason.
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Impartiality
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We must treat all the same, without reasons.
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Behaving in a partial fashion would be to treat people differently for no good reason. (Favoritism.)
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Impartiality is actually a derivation of reason - we treat people the same because we have no reason not to.
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Cultural relativism.
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Cultural relativism holds that there is no way to decide which of two opposing theories is true, or superior.
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Example: Some states in the U.S.A. allow the death penalty. The European Union does not. Cultural relativism disallows such judgements as one of these two positions being superior (i.e., there should be the death penalty or there should not be.)
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In cultural relativism, we cannot make judgements across cultures; there is no independent standard
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The major conclusion of cultural relativism is that there can be no absolute objective truth in morality.
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Individual relativism: a critical view of cultural relativism.
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This holds that there is no good way to draw cultural boundaries, and therefore, if relativism is correct, there is no standard between individuals.
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The counter-argument: morality is concerned with the absolutes that apply to all, rather than those imperatives which are limited to a culture or individual.
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Situational relativism. (Situational ethics.)
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Situational ethics hold that under different situations, a moral 'wrong' may be right.
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Example: Some people think that it's not ok to shoot someone, except in the situation where they shot at me first, or in the situation where I am a police officer apprehending an escaped felon.
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More on cultural relativism.
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Argument: (If A then B; A, therefore B.)
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If different cultures have different moral codes, then there can be no objective truth in morality.
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Different cultures have different moral codes.
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Therefore, there can be no objective truth in morality.
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For next class: figure out what's wrong with the cultural relativism argument, and maybe some that are better.
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