Relativism

During a recent meeting of college educators at Harvard University, Cornell president Frank Rhodes rose to address the issue of reforms, suggesting that it was time for universities to pay "real and sustained attention to student's intellectual and moral well-being." Immediately there were gasps, even catcalls. One indignant student stood to demand of Rhodes, "Who is going to do the instructing? Whose morality are we going to follow?" The audience applauded thunderously, believing that the young man had settled the issue by posing an unanswerable question. Rhodes sat down, unable or unwilling to respond...Basic human nature dictates that when an individual is left to make moral decisions without reference to some standard above self, he or she invariably makes those choices on the basis of self-interest. Relativism results in radical individualism. As sociologist Robert Bellah concluded after an exhaustive survey, Americans have two overriding goals in life: personal success and vivid personal feelings.