Clip from The Sophists (low res) >

Moral Relativism and its Consequences

"All cultures and religions have their own moral truths, which are true for them...
...therefore we have no right to judge other cultures, or interfere in them."

The Sophists confronts this view, and explores issues of principle arising from any clash of value systems. The DVD includes the film and some questions and explanatory excerpts about moral relativism and the Sophists. For more details see Teachers Notes.

Useful for: Philosophy Ethics & Plato; Religious Studies

Synopsis
Martina is a campaigner for religious toleration. Her mother Natalya was a religious dissident in the Soviet Union, oppressed by the Communist system for her faith. Martina has a distrust of all absolute moral systems, and believes in moral relativism as grounds for toleration of different cultures.
When members of a new “philosophical faith” arrive from Eastern Europe and the authorities refuse to respect their temple, she supports them – the more so because this group base their philosophy on Moral Relativism.
However, they follow the ancient Sophist understanding of moral relativism, and have very different ideas about what it means for morality and the use of power.