Contractarian Relativism ≠ Nihilism

Treat social‑contract or Humean constructivist accounts as 'technical relativism': moral claims are true within a given social contract but that does not force us to accept abhorrent practices. From inside our own moral system we can condemn others, appeal to cross‑societal convergence (shared instrumental constraints), or invoke universal pragmatic standards (harm, reciprocity) to criticize practices like slavery or infanticide. — Clarifying this distinction reframes culture‑war and human‑rights debates: it undercuts the straw‑man 'anything goes' charge and provides accountable language for condemning practices while respecting cross‑cultural complexity.