ABSTRACT
It has sometimes been thought that relativism implies open-mindedness and the avoidance of moralism, defined as taking morals to extremes. But that is not necessarily the case. This chapter reviews the connections between relativism and moralism, exploring the historical and philosophical relations between relativism and anti-moralism, between relativism and moralism, between absolutism and anti-moralism, and between absolutism and moralism. It turns out that philosophers and philosophical ideas can be found supporting all of these pairs. A special feature of the chapter is that more weight than usual is put on philosophical theology. In conclusion we point to the relative dearth of philosophical work on the connections between relativism and moralism and the need for further work in this area.
