Thank you for such an interesting and provocative exposition.

One point that struck me was the presumption of cultural homogeneity that is apparently an assumption in Rachels’s arguments. Doesn’t that makes arguing about “cultural relativity” essentially no different than arguing about personal moralities is?

Morals are products of beliefs (assertions that are not amenable to being validated or invalidated within material existence). With homogeneous cultures as with individuals, our beliefs are perfectly valid for ourselves but have no validity for anyone else. The same is therefore true of the moral values that follow from beliefs.

One moral value that is shared by all people is that to be forced to abide by the beliefs of others is to be morally wronged. For societies that are not culturally homogeneous ‘cultural relativity’ thereby becomes a serious, even existential issue.

That is why an ethic of justice for governing the governance of society that is not based on beliefs is needed. If curious, “Real Justice” is a “5 min read” here in Medium.