Is There Moral Progress?
After a century that saw two world wars, the Nazi Holocaust, Stalin’s Gulag, the killing fields of Cambodia, and more recent atrocities in Rwanda and now Darfur, belief in moral progress has become difficult to defend. Yet opinion polls indicate that large majorities worldwide have come to reject racial, ethnic, and sexual inequality.
MELBOURNE – After a century that saw two world wars, the Nazi Holocaust, Stalin’s Gulag, the killing fields of Cambodia, and more recent atrocities in Rwanda and now Darfur, the belief that we are progressing morally has become difficult to defend. Yet there is more to the question than extreme cases of moral breakdown.