Autonomy and relativism

Individual relativism may initially seem to do justice to the idea of our autonomy: our moral rules are set by ourselves. But this attractiveness of relativism disappears as soon as we realize that our beliefs are largely not up to us—that, as the saying goes, we catch them like we catch the flu. This seems especially true of our moral beliefs, most of which are inherited from our surrounding culture. Thus, what individual relativism gives to us in terms of autonomy is largely taken away by reflection on our beliefs.