In today's society, many people believe that the practice of slavery is morally wrong. However, some philosophers, such as Gilbert Harman, believe that we cannot judge whether slavery is morally wrong or right by comparing it to our own morality. This form of ethics is called ethical relativism, the theory that morality is relative to the norms of a person's culture or society. Essentially, an action is considered right or wrong based on the moral standards of the culture the person performing the action belongs to. This same action may be morally right in one society but completely wrong in another society. For the ethical relativist, there are no universal moral standards, which are standards that can be universally applied to everyone at all times. The only moral standards against which a society's practices can be judged are its own. A common criticism leveled at ethical relativism is that it fails to recognize that some societies have better reasons than others to hold their views. Just because a society or culture comes to an implicit agreement on what its morality will be does not mean that morality is morally acceptable. Imagine that two groups of people come to different agreements about killing people. One group comes to understand that killing people out of aggression or revenge is morally wrong, while the other believes it is morally right. According to ethical relativism, no one should judge either group as morally wrong if they chose to believe one way or the other. However, killing someone is morally wrong and if everyone could kill, almost no one would be alive. This is a great example of a group having a better reason to hold their beliefs in the middle of paper and find a correct way to judge the ethics of others. In addition to failing to recognize that some cultures have better reasons than others to hold their beliefs, ethical relativism fails to recognize that not all cultures constitute a well-defined subsection of people. Some individuals belong to more than one culture, so which culture holds sway over others in determining its behavior as moral or immoral? Although the theory of ethical relativism is rejected by most, it must be recognized that it raises important questions that should not be ignored. It reminds us that different societies have different moral beliefs and that our beliefs are deeply influenced by culture. It further encourages society to better examine the reasons behind beliefs and ethics that differ from ours, while challenging us to examine the reasons behind the beliefs and values ​​we hold..