An Examination of Relativism in Richard Mervyn Hare's Moral Philosophy

One of the important viewpoints in philosophy, especially in moral philosophy, is “relativism”. The critical and rational examination of relativism can lead to the right moral decisions and, accordingly, the right action in different circumstances. Richard Mervyn Hare is one of the prominent moral philosophers, who in his moral philosophy, speaking of relativism and realism, has expressed the criteria for the relativity of moral judgments. By using the rule of “generalizability”, he has tried to justify the moral judgments. Also, considering the role of practicing in using the moral principles according to the circumstances, he has tried to lead the moral agent to a skill that leads to the right moral action. Besides, in explaining his moral theory, Hare considers knowing the circumstances and teaching the moral principles as effective in making moral judgments, and finally, he links the foundations of his viewpoint to intuitive and critical thinking in order to strengthen it and to make it coherent. In this paper, we have tried to examine Hare’s viewpoint about relativism from a theoretical perspective.