This is philosophy bites with me David Edmonds and me Nigel Warton.

Philosophy bites is available at W.

What's Ethically OK for Muslims may not be okay for Christians.

What's seen as morally acceptable in Manchester may not be all right in Mogadishu.

You may think capital punishment or euthanasia are wrong. I may disagree.

We're tempted to think that morality is relative, that we can resolve moral disputes as we resolve disputes in other areas.

In history, say, we might argue about the date of the Battle of Hastings.

In maths we might challenge a proof, but we think there's a definitive answer to such disagreements.

Which raises the question, is the realm of morality different? Are

morals relative? The man to answer this question is one of Britain's leading

moral philosophers, Professor Simon Blackburn.

Simon Blackburn, welcome to Philosophy Bites.

Thank you very much.

Lovely to talk to you.

The topic I wanted to ask you about today is moral relativism.

I wonder if you could just sketch for us what you understand by that term.

Well I think moral relativism is a position that intrigues even if it doesn't attract people.

It of course starts with the elementary observation that there are different

sensibilities. People react differently, morally, to different things. Some people think

abortions permissible. Some people think it's not. Some people think that assisted euthanasia's

permissible. Other people think it isn't. Some people think that the will of

Allah has to be done. Other people don't think it is of any relevance and say you've got

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