The Unveiling of Being – Article 6: The Collapse of Moral Relativism and the Necessity of Absolute Ethics

In the modern world, ethical discourse has been dominated by relativism—the belief that moral values are contingent, subjective, and shaped by cultural or individual perspectives. This notion, rooted in the rejection of absolute foundations, has led to moral fragmentation, where no principle can claim universal validity. Yet, this very fragmentation reveals the impossibility of a purely contingent ethics. If morality were entirely relative, it would collapse into incoherence, undermining its own claims to significance. Instead, the necessity of Being implies the necessity of an immutable ethical structure that transcends contingent frameworks.

The Self-Defeating Nature of Moral Relativism

Moral relativism asserts that ethical truths are context-dependent and lack any intrinsic necessity. However, this position is inherently contradictory. If all moral claims are relative, then so is the claim that relativism itself is a valid moral stance. Moreover, societies cannot function without appealing to some form of objective ethical principles—whether in law, justice, or human rights. The attempt to ground morality in mere social consensus ultimately fails, as consensus itself is ever-changing and lacks necessity.

The Search for an Immutable Ethical Foundation

As moral relativism dissolves into inconsistency, the question arises: what is the true foundation of ethics? If Being is eternal and indestructible, then ethics, as an expression of truth, must also be grounded in necessity rather than contingency. Goodness cannot be an arbitrary construct but must be inseparable from the eternal structure of reality. The search for morality is not the imposition of contingent rules but the recognition of an ethical order that is already inscribed within Being itself.

Beyond Utilitarianism and Social Contracts

Modern ethical systems, such as utilitarianism and contractualism, attempt to justify morality based on consequences or mutual agreements. Yet, these frameworks remain contingent, dependent on shifting human preferences and conditions. Utilitarianism, for example, collapses when individual rights or dignity are sacrificed for collective benefit. Social contract theories, similarly, are only as stable as the societies that uphold them. If morality is to have true weight, it must not rest on provisional agreements but on an absolute foundation that cannot be overturned by historical or social change.

Ethics as the Recognition of Being

If Being is necessary, then so too is the Good. Ethics is not an artificial construct imposed by human society; rather, it is the necessary unfolding of truth within reality. The recognition of this eternal ethical structure is not a matter of subjective belief but an encounter with necessity itself. The moral instability of the modern world stems from an implicit denial of this necessity—a failure to recognize that ethical truth is not created but unveiled.

Conclusion: The Inevitable Return to the Eternal Good

As relativism reaches its limits, it inevitably gives way to the recognition of an immutable ethical order. Attempts to construct morality on contingent grounds will always collapse under their own contradictions. True ethics is not an evolving construct but an eternal reality, inseparable from the structure of Being. The search for justice, virtue, and the Good is, in truth, the search for the eternal necessity that underlies all things. In this recognition, ethics ceases to be a human invention and reveals itself as an expression of the indestructible nature of reality.