Comment by drdeca

That’s not what moral relativism is.

Utilitarianism, for example, is not (necessarily) relativistic, and would (for pretty much all utility functions that people propose) endorse lying in some situations.

Moral realism doesn’t mean that there are no general principles that are usually right about what is right and wrong but have some exceptions. It means that for at least some cases, there is a fact of the matter as to whether a given act is right or wrong.

It is entirely compatible with moral realism to say that lying is typically immoral, but that there are situations in which it may be morally obligatory.