The Endless Quest for the Universalization of Morality.

             Throughout history, philosophers have been preoccupied with the notion of a universal "right" and "wrong". Philosophers want to have a sort of morality measuring stick that would enable them to judge a person's decision as being morally right or wrong, independent of the situation and circumstances that led to that decision. Since an Universal Law of Morality hasn't been discovered yet, philosophers have to use various moral theories to evaluate the morality of decisions. Some of the moral theories philosophers have developed over the years have come very close to being accepted as as universal, but none have had the characteristics that it takes to be classified as universal. Since philosophy lacks an Universal Law of Morality, philosophers must take into account the reasons and circumstances behind moral decisions, therefore they must use moral theories that are relative to decision-maker and his/her situation.

             Conventional moral relativism is the idea that morality is defined by individual cultures and that each culture has its own morality that is relative to that culture. William Graham Sumner believed that every culture has its own set of values and customs, so "The 'right way' is the way which the ancestors used and which has been handed down"(Sommers 213). Even though some cultures share many of the same values, they don't have the same morality. Values are what effect people's decision making, but they do not work independently. Values work as a system, where some values are worth more than others, so two cultures with identical values could have completely opposite morals because of the order of importance of the values in their value system. This allows for the possibility of different cultures making different decisions when faced with the same moral dilemma and to still be "right", relative to their morality.