JAN282016ShortAnswer1

Short Answer #1

Jonathan Haidt thinks he’s discovered something important about the nature of ethics; something about how it is connected to evolution and less about truth. But Singer might look at this kind of meta-ethics as “crude relativism”. What is Haidt’s meta-ethics and, based on Singer’s arguments is it a form of bad relativism? (300-400 words).

Do not put your name on the document or file name. You may include your student id if you wish. Submit your answer to the dropbox on courses.alfino.org under “Short Answers”.

Actual in-class version of the question:

Jonathan Haidt thinks he has discovered something important about the nature of ethics; particularly how it varies among human cultures and how it might be related to evolution. But Peter Singer might consider his discovery a form of crude relativism. Drawing your understanding of both writers, evaluate Haidt’s view in terms of Singer’s arguments about relativism.