On Moral Imperialism

Moral imperialism is the phenomenon in which one culture attempts to impose its moral standards on another culture. 

It seems that in today's America, which has adopted a relativistic attitude, moral imperialism has become a great sin -- and in contrast, tolerance has devolved into pluralism, which is now the norm. Perhaps this is an inevitable result of classical liberalism. 

Are there situations in which moral imperialism is acceptable? I think the best answer to this question is an investigation into metaethics. We can construct this argument: 

P1. If moral realism is true, then we ought to argue for whatever we believe to be objectively and ethically true. 

P2. Moral realism is true. 

C1. We ought to argue for whatever we believe to be objectively and ethically true. 

P3. Arguing for whatever we believe to be true is a form of moral imperialism. 

C2. Therefore, we ought to be morally imperialistic. 

I won't argue for moral realism here, because I think that takes too long and requires a lot of time, simply due to the breadth of how many good arguments there are and good rebuttals. However, the question remains of how forceful we are about our moral imperialism. As the supposedly most powerful country in the world militarily, our decisions hold the most weight, and we need to carefully consider how much we interfere on the international scale. 

Firstly, distinguishing between positive and negative human rights. Whereas positive human rights are more like goals that developing or developed countries seek to aspire toward, negative rights are more preventative of the mass injustices the entire world witnessed during WW2. Positive human rights should exist as declarations and milestones, and simply that. Negative rights, however, demand an international response that is proportional to how grave the violation is. For example, genocide should be met with military action. Corruption should be met with condemnation. Realistically, it is only our resources that prevent us from overextending on another country's affairs. 

Are there good arguments against moral imperalism while adopting moral realism at the same time? I think so. Perhaps self-determination is just as important. I think I will revisit this topic later.