Contested Morality: Judge Posner on Infanticide, Slavery, Suttee, Female Genital Mutilation, and the Holocaust

Abstract:     
Judge Richard Posner locates his moral theory between moral absolutism and the "anything goes" kind of moral relativism. He analyzes whether five contested topics are subject to useful moral debate: infanticide, slavery, suttee, female genital mutilation, and the Holocaust. Each topic presents a different perspective on his own moral theory. But each one fails in a different way to place his own moral theory on a sound footing.

Keywords: Judge Posner, morality, infanticide, slavery, suttee, female genital mutilation, Holocaust, moral relativism, moral theory

JEL Classifications: K39, K10, K19

Working Paper Series