A Critical Review of Moral Relativism, Universalism/absolutism and the Teaching of the Catholic Church on Catholic Morality

Abstract

Ethical relativism is the thesis that moral judgements are relative to culture and individual preferences. It claims that there is no universal morality as pointed out by moral universalism/absolutism.  Moral universalism is the meta-ethical position that ethics or morality applies universally, that is for all similarly situated individuals, regardless of culture, race, sex, religion, nationality, sexuality or other distinguishing features. Catholic Church teaches that moral law is universal across people in varying cultures and fact is rooted in the natural human condition or reason. All adult persons are capable of knowing the truth. John Paul II insisted that no matter how separated someone is from God, in the depth of his heart, there always remains a yearning for the absolute truth and a thirst to attain full knowledge of it.