Unfriendly Cases for Metz’s Moral Relational Theory

Metz’s Moral Relational Theory says that an action is right if it respects our capacity to be party to friendly relationships. Friendliness involves exhibiting solidarity and identification with others. Though Metz’s theory often issues intuitively correct moral judgments, I argue that it fails to do so in the cases of female genital mutilation, religious offense, and homosexual romantic relationships. I conclude by exploring whether there are possible replies that can be made on behalf of Metz by examining African conceptions of well-being and flourishing, before turning to ask questions about the role that intuitions play in justifying his theory.