what is the importance of cultural relativism essay brainly

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Best Family Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2023 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

Understanding Cultural Relativism and Its Importance

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Akeem Marsh, MD, is a board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist who has dedicated his career to working with medically underserved communities.

Bartosz Hadyniak/E+/Getty

Beliefs of Cultural Relativism

• Limitations
• In Mental Health

Cultural Relativism vs. Ethnocentrism

• How to Promote

Cultural relativism suggests that ethics, morals, values, norms, beliefs, and behaviors must be understood within the context of the culture from which they arise. It means that all cultures have their own beliefs and that there is no universal or absolute standard to judge those cultural norms. 

"Cultural relativism leads us to accept that cultures are foundationally different, with differing social and ethical norms. This includes understanding that a person’s place of birth, including where or how a patient was raised during their formative years, is the basis of a person’s approach to the world and emotional self," says Anu Raj, PsyD , a clinical psychologist at New York Institute of Technology.

Advocates of cultural relativism suggest that one culture's values, beliefs, and norms should not be judged through the lens of another culture.

It is the opposite of ethnocentrism, which involves judging or understanding cultural beliefs from the perspective of your own. Instead, cultural relativism suggests that observers and researchers should focus on describing those practices without attempting to impose their own biases and judgments upon them.

History of Cultural Relativism

The concept of cultural relativism was introduced by anthropologist Franz Boas in 1887. While he did not coin the term, it later became widely used by his students to describe his anthropological perspective and theories.

Cultural relativism suggests that:

• Different societies have their own moral codes and practices.
• Norms, beliefs, and values must be judged and understood from the context of the culture where they originate.
• No culture is objectively better than others; cultures and their customs and beliefs are not objectively superior or inferior to any other culture.
• Practices and behaviors considered acceptable or unacceptable vary from one culture to the next.
• Cultural relativism aims to help promote acceptance, tolerance, and an appreciation for diverse cultural beliefs and practices.
• No universal ethical or moral truths apply to all people in all situations.
• What is considered right and wrong is determined by society’s moral codes.
• Researchers and observers should strive to observe behavior rather than pass judgments on it based on their own cultural perspective.

Different Types of Cultural Relativism

There are two distinct types of cultural relativism: absolute cultural relativism and critical cultural relativism.

Absolute Cultural Relativism

According to this perspective, outsiders should not question or judge cultural events. Essentially, this point of view proposes that outsiders should not criticize or question the cultural practices of other societies, no matter what they might involve.

Critical Cultural Relativism

Critical cultural relativism suggests that practices should be evaluated in terms of how and why they are adopted. This perspective suggests that cultural practices can be evaluated and understood by looking at factors such as the historical context and social influences.

It also recognizes that all societies experience inequalities and power dynamics that influence how and why certain beliefs are adopted and who adopts them.

Strengths of Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism has a number of benefits that can help people gain greater insight into different cultures. This perspective can help:

• Promote cultural understanding : Because cultural relativism encourages seeing cultures with an open mind, it can foster greater empathy , understanding, and respect for cultures different from ours. 
• Protect cultural respect and autonomy : Cultural relativism recognizes that no culture is superior to any other. Rather than attempting to change other cultures, this perspective encourages people to respect the autonomy and self-determinism of other cultures, which can play an important role in preserving the heritage and traditions of other cultures.
• Foster learning : By embracing cultural relativism, people from different backgrounds are able to communicate effectively and create an open dialogue to foster greater learning for other cultures of the world.

Cultural relativism can also be important in helping mental health professionals deliver culturally competent care to clients of different backgrounds.

"What’s considered “typical and normal versus pathological” depends on cultural norms. It varies between providers and patients; it impacts diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis," Raj explains.

When mental health professionals account for the differences in values, and attitudes towards and of marginalized people (including communities of color and LGBTQ+ communities), providers develop respect for individual patients. Consequently, patients are less likely to be misdiagnosed and more likely to continue treatment.

Limitations of Cultural Relativism

While cultural relativism has strengths, that does not mean it is without limitations.

Failure to Address Human Rights

This perspective has been criticized for failing to address universal rights. Some suggest that this approach may appear to condone cultural practices that constitute human rights violations. It can be challenging to practice non-judgment of other cultures while still protecting people’s right to live free from discrimination and oppression.

Cultural relativism may sometimes hamper progress by inhibiting the examination of practices, norms, and traditions that limit a society’s growth and progress.

Reducing Cultures to Stereotypes

Cultural relativism sometimes falls victim to the tendency to stereotype and simplify cultures. Rather than fully appreciating the full complexity and diversity that may exist within a culture, people may reduce it to a homogenous stereotype. This often prevents outsiders from seeing the many variations that may exist within a society and fully appreciating the way cultures evolve over time.

Individual Rights vs. Cultural Values

This perspective may sometimes lead observers to place a higher priority on a culture’s collective values while dismissing individual variations. This might involve, for example, avoiding criticism of cultures that punish political dissidents who voice opposition to cultural norms, and practices.

Examples of Cultural Relativism

In reality, people make cultural judgments all the time. If you've ever eaten food from another culture and described it as 'gross' or learned about a specific cultural practice and called it 'weird,' you've made a judgment about that culture based on the norms of your own. Because you don't eat those foods or engage in those practices in your culture, you are making culture-biased value judgments.

Cultural differences can affect a wide range of behaviors, including healthcare decisions. For example, research has found that while people from Western cultures prefer to be fully informed in order to make autonomous healthcare conditions, individuals from other cultures prefer varying degrees of truth-telling from medical providers.

An example of using cultural relativism in these cases would be describing the food practices of a different culture and learning more about why certain foods and dishes are important in those societies. Another example would be learning more about different cultural practices and exploring how they originated and the purpose they serve rather than evaluating them from your own cultural background. 

In medical settings, healthcare practitioners must balance the interests and autonomy of their patients with respect and tolerance for multicultural values.

Cultural Relativism in Mental Health

Cultural relativism can also play an important role in the practice and application of mental health. "An individual’s perception of mental health, including stigma, is often influenced by their cultural identity and social values," explains Raj.

People who experience cultural discrimination are also more likely to experience higher stress levels, which can seriously affect mental health. Research has shown that perceived discrimination increases psychological distress and predicts symptoms of anxiety and depression. It also contributes to worse physical health, including a higher risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke.

Therapists must strive to understand people from different backgrounds to provide culturally competent care. "Through the lens of cultural competency, providers can educate themselves and elevate the plethora of coping mechanisms that a patient already might possess," says Raj. 

Cultural relativism and ethnocentrism are two contrasting perspectives that can be used to evaluate and understand other cultures.

Ethnocentrism involves judging other cultures based on the standards and values of one's own culture, often leading to a biased or prejudiced perspective .

Where cultural relativism suggests that all cultures are equally valid, ethnocentrism involves seeing your own culture as superior or more correct than others.

Cultural relativism emphasizes the importance of diversity and recognizes that values, beliefs, and behaviors can vary across societies. This can be contrasted with ethnocentrism, which promotes the idea that your own culture is the norm or benchmark against which others should be evaluated. This can limit understanding and decrease tolerance for people of different backgrounds. 

How Do You Promote Cultural Relativism?

There are a number of strategies that can help promote cultural relativism. This can be particularly important for mental health professionals and other healthcare practitioners. 

"Therapists must be able to view the world through the eyes of their patients. Most importantly, culturally competent therapists understand their patient’s behavior through the cultural framework in which they live," Raj says.

Promoting cultural relativism involves adopting an open-minded and respectful approach toward other cultures. Some things you can do to foster greater cultural relativism:

• Embrace cultural diversity : Strive to appreciate other cultures, including their unique values, traditions, and perspectives. Remember that diversity enriches our lives, experiences, and world knowledge.
• Learn more about other cultures : Take the time to explore cultures other than your own, including histories, traditions, and beliefs. Resources that can help include books, documentaries, and online resources.
• Practice empathy : Seek to understand others by imagining things from their perspective. Try to understand their experiences, challenges, and aspirations. Cultivate empathy and respect for the differences between people and cultures.
• Seek diversity : Make an active effort to spend more time with people from different walks of life. Talk to people from diverse backgrounds and approach these discussions with an open mind and a desire to learn. Be willing to share your own perspectives and experiences without trying to change others or impose your beliefs on them.
• Challenge biases : Try to become more aware of how your unconscious biases might shape your perceptions and interactions with others. Practicing cultural relativism is an ongoing process. It takes time, open-mindedness , and a willingness to reflect on your biases.

Promoting Cultural Relativism Among Mental Health Professionals

How can therapists apply cultural relativism to ensure they understand other cultural perspectives and avoid unintentional biases in therapy?   

A 2019 study found that the ideal training for therapists included graduate coursework in diversity, supervised clinical experiences working with diverse populations, experiential activities, didactic training, and cultural immersion when possible.

Avoiding Bias in Therapy

Raj suggests that there are important questions that professionals should ask themselves, including:

• How do I identify?
• How does my patient identify? 
• What prejudices or biases am I holding? 
•  Are there biases or stereotypes I hold based on my own upbringing and culture? 

She also suggests that therapists should always be willing to ask about client involvement in treatment planning. She recommends asking questions such as: 

• What approaches have been successful or failed in the past? 
• How does the patient perceive their ailment? 
• What were the results of the patient’s previous coping mechanisms? 
• How does the patient’s culture drive their behavior, coping skills, and outcomes?

By making clients an active part of their treatment and taking steps to understand their background better, therapists can utilize cultural relativism to deliver more sensitive, informed care.

The New Republic. Pioneers of cultural relativism )

Kanarek J. Critiquing cultural relativism . The Intellectual Standard. 2013;2(2):1.

Rosenberg AR, Starks H, Unguru Y, Feudtner C, Diekema D. Truth telling in the setting of cultural differences and incurable pediatric illness: A review . JAMA Pediatr . 2017;171(11):1113-1119. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.2568

Williams DR, Lawrence JA, Davis BA, Vu C. Understanding how discrimination can affect health . Health Serv Res . 2019;54 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):1374-1388. doi:10.1111/1475-6773.13222

Benuto LT, Singer J, Newlands RT, Casas JB. Training culturally competent psychologists: Where are we and where do we need to go ? Training and Education in Professional Psychology . 2019;13(1):56-63. doi:10.1037/tep0000214

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons
• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

1.6: Cultural Relativism

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 5568
• Lumen Learning

The Cross-Cultural Relationship is the idea that people from different cultures can have relationships that acknowledge, respect and begin to understand each others diverse lives. People with different backgrounds can help each other see possibilities that they never thought were there because of limitations, or cultural proscriptions, posed by their own traditions. Traditional practices in certain cultures can restrict opportunity because they are “wrong” according to one specific culture. Becoming aware of these new possibilities will ultimately change the people that are exposed to the new ideas. This cross-cultural relationship provides hope that new opportunities will be discovered but at the same time it is threatening. The threat is that once the relationship occurs, one can no longer claim that any single culture is the absolute truth.

Cultural relativism is the ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not to make judgments using the standards of one’s own culture. The goal of this is promote understanding of cultural practices that are not typically part of one’s own culture. Using the perspective of cultural relativism leads to the view that no one culture is superior than another culture when compared to systems of morality, law, politics, etc. [11] It is a concept that cultural norms and values derive their meaning within a specific social context. This is also based on the idea that there is no absolute standard of good or evil, therefore every decision and judgment of what is right and wrong is individually decided in each society. The concept of cultural relativism also means that any opinion on ethics is subject to the perspective of each person within their particular culture. Overall, there is no right or wrong ethical system. In a holistic understanding of the term cultural relativism, it tries to promote the understanding of cultural practices that are unfamiliar to other cultures such as eating insects, genocides or genital cutting.

There are two different categories of cultural relativism : Absolute : Everything that happens within a culture must and should not be questioned by outsiders. The extreme example of absolute cultural relativism would be the Nazi party’s point of view justifying the Holocaust.

Critical : Creates questions about cultural practices in terms of who is accepting them and why. Critical cultural relativism also recognizes power relationships.

Absolute cultural relativism is displayed in many cultures, especially Africa, that practice female genital cutting. This procedure refers to the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or any other trauma to the female reproductive/genital organs. By allowing this procedure to happen, females are considered women and then are able to be married. FGC is practiced mainly because of culture, religion and tradition. Outside cultures such as the United States look down upon FGC, but are unable to stop this practice from happening because it is protected by its culture.

Cultural relativism can be seen with the Chinese culture and their process of feet binding. Foot binding was to stop the growth of the foot and make them smaller. The process often began between four and seven years old. A ten foot bandage would be wrapped around the foot forcing the toes to go under the foot. It caused the big toe to be closer to the heel causing the foot to bow. [4] In China, small feet were seen as beautiful and a symbol of status. The women wanted their feet to be “three-inch golden lotuses”三寸金蓮 [3] It was also the only way to marry into money. Because men only wanted women with small feet, even after this practice was banned in 1912, women still continued to do it. To Western cultures the idea of feet binding might seems torturous, but for the Chinese culture it was a symbol of beauty that has been ingrained the culture for hundreds of years. The idea of beauty differs from culture to culture.

• “African People & Culture – Ashanti”.
• “Japanese Hip Hop and the Globalization of Popular Culture” Ian Condry
• Southern California Quarterly “Cinco de Mayo’s First Seventy-Five Years in Alta California: From Spontaneous Behavior to Sedimented Memory, 1862 to 1937” Spring 2007 (see American observation of Cinco de Mayo started in California) accessed Oct 30, 2007
• “Health and Human Rights”, World Health Organization www.who.int/hhr/HHRETH_activities.pdf (pdf) Accessed June 2009
• “Discussion Group 10 Week 2- Marisa Mikelsons”
• Condry, Ian, 2001 “Japanese Hip-Hop and the Globalization of Popular Culture.” In Urban Life: Readings in the Anthropology of the City. George Gmelch and Walter Zenner, eds. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
• Democracy in Dakar, Nomadic Wax, 2008
• courses.wwu.edu/webapps/porta...82_1&frame=top
• Barton Wright Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa040.shtml
• Schultz, Emily A., and Robert H. Lavenda. Cultural Anthropology : A Perspective on the Human Condition. New York: Oxford UP, Incorporated, 2009.pg.79.
• Philosophy Home, 2009. http://www.cultural-relativism.com/
• Zmago Šmitek and Božidar Jezernik, “The anthropological tradition in Slovenia.” In: Han F. Vermeulen and Arturo Alvarez Roldán, eds. Fieldwork and Footnotes: Studies in the History of European Anthropology. 1995.
• American Anthropological Association Statement on “Race”(May 17, 1998) http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm
• Peter L. Berger, Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective, Anchor, 1963, ISBN 0385065299
• C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination, Oxford University Press, 1961, ISBN 0195133730
• Louisa Lim, Painful Memories for China’s Footbinding Survivors www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=8966942
• James A. Crites Chinese Foot Binding, http://www.angelfire.com/ca/beekeeper/foot.html
• www.allaboutphilosophy.org/cu...relativism.htm
• Justin Marozzi, The son of the Father of History, 2007, www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/b...f-History.html
• Introduction to The Journey of Friar John of Pian de Carpine to the Court of Kuyuk Khan, 1245-1247, as translated by William Woodville Rockhill, 1900,depts.washington.edu/silkroad...s/carpini.html
• Schultz, Emily A., and Robert H. Lavenda. Cultural Anthropology A Perspective on the Human Condition. 7th ed. New York: Oxford UP.
• “RACE – The Power of an Illusion . What Is Race |.” PBS. 08 Mar. 2009 <www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRa...01_00-home.htm>.
• Miller, Barabra. Cultural Anthropology. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson Education Inc., 2007.
• Lorber, Judith. “Night to His Day”: The Social Construction of Gender.” From Inquiry to Academic Writing: A text and Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 617-30.
• Bourgois, Philippe. “Workaday World, Crack Economy.” The Nation (1995): 706-11.

External Links

• What is Anthropology? – Information from the American Anthropological Association
• SLA– Society for Linguistic Anthropology
• ^ Schultz, Emily A., and Robert H. Lavenda. Cultural Anthropology : A Perspective on the Human Condition. New York: Oxford UP, Incorporated, 2009. pg.79.
• ^ Schultz, Emily A., and Robert H. Lavenda. Cultural Anthropology : A Perspective on the Human Condition. New York: Oxford UP, Incorporated, 2009. pgs. 332-333

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one’s own culture. Part of ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own race, ethnic or cultural group is the most important or that some or all aspects of its culture are superior to those of other groups. Some people will simply call it cultural ignorance.

Ethnocentrism often leads to incorrect assumptions about others’ behavior based on your own norms, values, and beliefs. In extreme cases, a group of individuals may see another culture as wrong or immoral and because of this may try to convert, sometimes forcibly, the group to their own ways of living. War and genocide could be the devastating result if a group is unwilling to change their ways of living or cultural practices.

Ethnocentrism may not, in some circumstances, be avoidable. We often have involuntary reactions toward another person or culture’s practices or beliefs but these reactions do not have to result in horrible events such as genocide or war. In order to avoid conflict over culture practices and beliefs, we must all try to be more culturally relative.

Cultural relativism is the principle of regarding and valuing the practices of a culture from the point of view of that culture and to avoid making hasty judgments. Cultural relativism tries to counter ethnocentrism by promoting the understanding of cultural practices that are unfamiliar to other cultures such as eating insects, genocides or genital cutting. Take for example, the common practice of same-sex friends in India walking in public while holding hands. This is a common behavior and a sign of connectedness between two people. In England, by contrast, holding hands is largely limited to romantically involved couples, and often suggests a sexual relationship. These are simply two different ways of understanding the meaning of holding hands. Someone who does not take a relativistic view might be tempted to see their own understanding of this behavior as superior and, perhaps, the foreign practice as being immoral.

D espite the fact that cultural relativism promotes the appreciation for cultural differences, it can also be problematic. At its most extreme, cultural relativism leaves no room for criticism of other cultures, even if certain cultural practices are horrific or harmful. Many practices have drawn criticism over the years. In Madagascar, for example, the famahidana funeral tradition includes bringing bodies out from tombs once every seven years, wrapping them in cloth, and dancing with them. Some people view this practice disrespectful to the body of the deceased person. Today, a debate rages about the ritual cutting of genitals of girls in several Middle Eastern and African cultures. To a lesser extent, this same debate arises around the circumcision of baby boys in Western hospitals. When considering harmful cultural traditions, it can be patronizing to use cultural relativism as an excuse for avoiding debate. To assume that people from other cultures are neither mature enough nor responsible enough to consider criticism from the outside is demeaning.

The concept of cross-cultural relationship is the idea that people from different cultures can have relationships that acknowledge, respect and begin to understand each other’s diverse lives. People with different backgrounds can help each other see possibilities that they never thought were there because of limitations, or cultural proscriptions, posed by their own traditions. Becoming aware of these new possibilities will ultimately change the people who are exposed to the new ideas. This cross-cultural relationship provides hope that new opportunities will be discovered, but at the same time it is threatening. The threat is that once the relationship occurs, one can no longer claim that any single culture is the absolute truth.

Culture and Psychology Copyright © 2020 by L D Worthy; T Lavigne; and F Romero is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

The Importance Of Cultural Relativism

There is a common belief in modern society that tolerance of others and their cultures is the key to creating a peaceful utopian society. This belief has been taken form as a school of thought in philosophy known as Cultural Relativism. Cultural Relativism is based on the idea that morality is based only on the culture that we were brought up in. It states that there is no universal moral truth to be used to determine if something is right or wrong, so it is unfair to criticize another’s moral actions, because we did not have the same cultural upbringing as ourselves. In this paper, I will be using an reductio approach to show that the consequences of accepting Cultural Relativism as a valid school of thought are not acceptable in modern …show more content…

If there is no moral code independent of one’s culture, then there is no mechanism of changing a society’s moral code. This concept is similar to a common case in which our parents tell us to do something and then we question why we have to do it and they give the typical “Because I said so” answer. The analogy to this that the set in stone moral code is the parents and the child is the average citizen. The citizen can question why the society has the morals they do, but the answer they receive is based on the society’s moral code. This is a circular logical process and thus there is no avenue for moral progress in a society. The final key flaw in the implementation of Cultural Relativism according to Rachels is that even if there was the ability to have moral progress, there would be no way to make sense of the progress made. This is due to the fact that the definition of progress implies that something is better than it was before. Cultural Relativism does not allow us to say that one culture is better than another because that implies that there is an external objective moral code to determine goodness, which is not permitted by its core tenants. If there is no sense of moral progress in a society, then all social reform of the past comes into question such as the implementation of worker’s rights and the dissolution of child labor. The society would have no sense of moral direction and the society would lack

Ethical Relativism : A Multicultural Society

Culture is the Backbone of a society, when something/someone tries to alter it or go against it everyone will notice. In this issue pointed out by Ruth Macklin, we look at the problems that can arise when an individual’s culture and autonomy clash. Every year there at least 30 million immigrants from all over the world that move to the United states of America, making America one of the most culturally diverse country in the world. Keeping this in mind, we will focus on Ruth Macklin’s issue of Multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is the co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious, or cultural groups and is manifested in customary behaviors, cultural assumptions and values, patterns of thinking, and communicative styles. Critics argue that we associate culture with a society, community and or family, but rarely with a single individual, thus placing it above the individual person. In this paper we are going to look at four different scenarios on from Ruth Macklin’s article.

The Pros And Cons Of Moral Relativism

Each person has their own beliefs but they still respect the idea that other people’s views can differ from theirs. Cultures are better preserved with this principle of moral relativism and the root of each culture is everlasting. Since there are no wrong beliefs, each culture can have practices without being criticized for how they act. Moral relativism allows individuals to be diverse in their beliefs and to further express what they believe to be right and wrong.

The Challenge Of Cultural Relativism By James Rachels

In “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism”, James Rachels presents six claims that have been made by cultural relativists. One of the six claims that Rachels presents in section 2.2 of the article is that different societies have different moral codes. I believe that Rachels thinks this claim is true. Section 2.1 of the article does a good job at explaining this idea. In this section, Rachels gives several examples of the differences that can be found in moral codes of different people groups throughout time. One of the specific examples he mentions is the different burial rituals of the Greeks and the Callatians. The Greeks perform a ritual that includes burning the dead. The Callatian ritual consists of eating the dead. The Greeks and Callatians, while encountering each other, both stated that the other’s ritual was inhumane. This disagreement, according to Cultural Relativism, is okay and to be expected because the two moral codes come from two drastically different societies. A modern example of this claim is that up until recently in China, small feet were praised and larger feet were frowned upon for women. Radical efforts to prevent women’s feet from growing included foot-binding. This method of prevention caused women to constantly be in pain. Women’s foot size in the United States isn’t emphasized like the way it used to be in China. Therefore, citizens of the United States believe that Chinese foot-binding was a barbaric method, while people in China would think

Moral Relativism By David Wong: Article Analysis

In this paper, I will summarize the article and offer comments about these selected aspects, identify some relevant and irrelevant issues. I will also suggest areas where addition research findings would help in understanding relativism and common moral values in a simplistic and effective

Cultural Differences Argument Analysis

Cultural Ethical Relativism is a theory that is used to explain differences among cultures, and thus their moral codes. According to cultural relativists, different cultures have different moral codes, and there is no objective truth in ethics. They believe there is no independent standard that can be used to judge one’s custom as better than another’s. In his article entitled “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism,” James Rachels offers his argument against the theory of Cultural Relativism by proving the Cultural Differences Argument is unsound and invalid. Further in his article, Rachels reasons against the claims made by cultural relativists, and he argues there are common values shared by all cultures and there exists an independent standard

Evaluate 
Rachel's 
Arguments 
Against 
Cultural
 Relativism Essay

Cultural relativism, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. “Is the thesis that a person’s culture strongly influences her modes of perception and thought” Most cultural relativists add to this definition saying that there is no standard of morality. This means that morality is relative to the particular society that one lives in. Prominent ethicist James Rachels has written against this view in his work titled The Challenge of Cultural Relativism. This paper will be focused on evaluating Rachels’ critique of cultural relativism, and whether it was right for him to endorse

Cultural Relativism Is An Important Ethical Theory And James Rachels ' Argument

Cultural Relativism is an important ethical theory and James Rachels’ argument is significant to provide evidence to prove and disprove the idea. It is important to call attention to and understand differences between cultures. Tolerance is also an valid concept when arguing Cultural Relativism. Regardless of the outcome or viewpoint of the argument it is significant in the fact that it raises awareness for tolerance and differences between cultures and that no culture is more superior or more correct in relation to another. The theory of Cultural Relativism is the idea that each and every culture has it’s own moral code, and if this is true, there is no universal, ethical truth that every culture must abide by. A universal truth being one that is true in all situations, at all times, and in all places. It proposes that a person’s actions should be understood and judged only by those within the terms of their culture. It is an idea of tolerance and open mindedness to cultures who are not our own. In the article, The Challenge of Cultural Relativism, James Rachels discusses important themes and arguments in concurrence with his own argument against Cultural Relativism. I will argue that Cultural Relativism is challenged by James Rachels argument but not disproved.

Moral Relativism : Morality And War

Moral relativism is the idea that there is no absolute moral standard that is applicable to any person at any place at any given time. It suggests that there are situations in which certain behavior that would normally be considered “wrong” can actually be considered “right”. Moral relativism has played an increasingly significant role in today’s society, particularly regarding the differences between the countries of the world. This essay will summarize and explain both arguments in favor of and against moral relativism. Despite what many relativists believe, the arguments against are not only stronger, but also more accurate.

Relativism, By Rachel 's And Williams Standpoint On Relativism

Relativism, defined by Rachel’s is the differentiation of cultural codes among societies, in respect to morality. Insofar the problem that is faced is whether or not there is a universal moral code all people can abide too? In explaining Rachel’s and Williams standpoint on Relativism and what they argue for, I on the other hand, will argue for relativism, in using some of Rachel’s views, in rejecting Williams conclusion of relativism. For Williams perceives no one outside of a society should impend on the social matters of a differing nation. To argue why his view is abstract, As well in many moral degrees, his philosophical conclusion could never be followed. For the axioms of morality are distinct, in varying situations, in which leads us to compare traditions, to see if they are right or wrong..

Criticism Of Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism is the theory where there is no objective truth in morality, and moral truths are determined by different cultures. The primary argument used to justify cultural relativism is the cultural differences argument, which claims different cultures have different moral practices and beliefs, therefore, there is no objective truth in morality (Newton). After reading James Rachels The Challenge of Cultural Relativism, I find his criticisms to be persuasive because the argument made for Cultural Relativism is not sound from a logical point of view. You cannot draw a conclusion about what is factual based on what people believe is factual. Rachels also points out that even though cultures do in fact disagree about moral values,

Meta-Ethical Cultural Relativism Essay

The thesis of meta-ethical cultural relativism is the philosophical viewpoint that there are no absolute moral truths, only truths relative to the cultural context in which they exist. From this it is therefore presumed that what one society considers to be morally right, another society may consider to be morally wrong, therefore, moral right's and wrongs are only relative to a particular society. Thus cultural relativism implies that what is 'good' is what is 'socially approved' in a given culture. Two arguments in favour of cultural relativism are the 'Cultural Differences argument' and the 'Argument from the virtue of tolerance', the following essay will look at and evaluate both of these

Argument Of Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism is the way society separates right from wrong within a culture. What we describe as “good” and “bad” is based off of our cultural beliefs. Cultural relativism argues that no culture is better than any other and all their beliefs are equally valid. The way that modern society is has made it possible for almost everything to be justified.

Ethnocentrism

Cultural relativism suggests that whatever any culture does is acceptable and we must positively judge other cultures’ practices—it is “right” for them. Who am I to judge differently? Cultural relativism arises out of a concern not to impose our cultural values on other cultures. The problem with believing that all values are

Arguments Against Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism is the way society separates right from wrong within a culture. What we describe as “good” and “bad” is based off of our cultural beliefs. No culture is better than any other and all their beliefs are equally valid. The way that modern society is has made it possible for almost everything to be justified.

The general study of humans and their ways of life is called Anthropology. Anthropology have four classic subdivisions: Cultural (or socio-cultural) Anthropology, Archaeology, Linguistics Anthropology and Biological (or physical) Anthropology. He or she who typically had some training in each of these four classic subdivisions in fact, have connected them to one another within a large field anthropology study. Moreover, he or she can use the theoretical knowledge and findings of anthropology to solve real-world problems surrounding human beings or human customs. Anthropologist has an idea that the beliefs and practices of a culture should be understood within the context that particular culture’s background, history and current events surrounding it called Cultural relativism. The main objective of this final research paper is examining my own culture from etic (i.e. outsider’s) perspective and another culture from emic (i.e. insider’s) perspective to clearly show my personal understanding of cultural relativism. Specifically, I will examine the rites of passage in African American girls/women lived reality and effects of the intersectional race, class and gender oppression in America coupled with discussing Japanese different rituals comparison to American outlook into death and the afterlife. All in all, rites of passage are done differently and makes a difference in its own society.

Related Topics

• Political philosophy

The Importance Of Cultural Relativism

Culture, as everyone can agree, is a vital part of our lives. It influences our views, values, hopes, dreams, or even our worries and fears. We live in a world full of diverse ethnicity and that is why it is important for us to have a wide perspective and understanding of different cultures. Through culture , people develop a sense of belonging, personal growth and the capacity to empathize and associate with others. According to Cultural Relativism (n.d.), cultural relativism is the view that moral or ethical systems, which vary from culture to culture, are all equally valid and no one system is really “better” than any other. This is based on the idea that there is no ultimate standard of good or evil, so every judgment about right and wrong is a product of society. Therefore, any opinion on morality or ethics is subject to the cultural perspective of each person. Ultimately, this means that no moral or ethical system can be considered the “best,” or “worst”, and no particular moral or ethical position can actually be considered “right” or “wrong.” So, the question is, do we embrace cultural relativism? In actual truth, we do not really embrace it. While cultural relativism does have its merits, but applying such an outlook to its fullest extent could lead to some serious debates and controversies. This is because there is an undeniable fact that our cultures and differences do matter, and people do tend to judge different practices of other cultures that may be deemed

Social Construction Of Death In American Culture

Cultures create their own theories of morality and teach their members to believe in it. Cultures can be death accepting, hedonistic, pessimistic,

Cultural Relativism Vs Female Circumcision

Our moral beliefs indicate the kind of environment or culture we grew up in. Therefore, if we were born in Somalia, we would believe that it is morally right to go through female circumcision as a rite of passage. However, if we grew up in the western world, then we would not believe in female circumcision. We can therefore see the relativist 's argument of cultural relativism in this case, because if cultural relativism exists, then naturally, morality will also be relative. Additionally, to support his stance, the relativist will also argue that tolerance comes into play when it comes to cultural relativism.

Moral Relativism Mary Midgley Analysis

Moral Relativism, should it be abandoned or not? This was the original question that came to my mind when starting off reading this excerpt. Mary Midgley, the author of this story, mentioned that now days we as people deny that we will ever be able to understand a culture that is not our own. That got me thinking and as I was thinking I found what she said to be relatively true. I feel as if society has shaped us as young adults to judge our culture as being the best and all other cultures as coming up second best.

An Indian Father's Plea '

Every day we use our culture. Whether it be to argue claims, express opinions, or make decisions, culture plays a part in each area. Culture is who we are, one’s identity, its extent is enormous over our views and actions. A person grows up surrounded with culture at a young age. This can affect how they learn and what they learn.

Cultural Relativism: Rites Of Passage

Cultural relativism is the understanding of other cultures in their own terms. To achieve the understanding of the rituals used in the cultures of another, one must be able to look at them from an emic (insider) perspective. One must also be able to look at his own culture from an etic (outsider) perspective. The ability to look at one’s culture from the etic point of view will make it easier to explain the rituals to someone from a different culture, for example, rites of passage. Rites of passage are used to mark a life stage and are celebrated by tradition or religion, meant to separate a specific group.

James Rachel's Argument Of Morality Is Not Relative

Although cultures throughout the world are distinct from one another, along with their own unique customs, there are set moral rules that every culture follows which plays a big role, in order for society to continue forward. Cultures are very different as described by James Rachels in “Morality Is Not Relative”. Cultural Relativism means that there are no set moral codes due to the fact that distinct cultures have distinct ideas when it comes to morals. For example, Rachel's supports his argument, by using multiple ways different people lived. Rachel’s points out a rarely discussed situation about Eskimos practicing infanticide.

The Southern Poverty Law Divine Command Theory

According to Ethical Relativism, there are no universal truths, which apply to all human beings at all times, and proposes that moral principles should be viewed as "local, conventional, subjective and self-justified" (Yardley, 2012). While ethical principles should conform to social, cultural norms and moral beliefs and practices are frequently products of cultural upbringing, the basis for Ethical Relativism is fundamentally unsound because it can be used to justify and rationalize practices and behaviors that are inherently immoral, such as racism, discrimination, hate crimes and oppression. Ethical African

Ethical Issues In Cultural Relativism

The ethics of cultural relativism are different than traditional ethical theories mainly because cultural relativism dismisses morality. Cultural relativism is named so because the ethics of different cultures

Cultural Differences Argument For Moral Relativism

”(p.19) This shows that in the study of ethics, the study of moral relativism to be more specific, the idea of universal truth does not exist. That is to say what is perceived as “good” or “right” can vary form culture to culture, so there is no way to have one universal truth. Two major examples of cultural differences that are often cited in Support

Culture In Santha Rama Rau's 'By Any Other Name'

For example schools in western culture affects how people learn. They learn how to count differently than the Indians like Wind-Wolf learn how to count they use rocks and sort them for medicine instead of using building blocks to build shapes like said in paragraph ten. In western culture, it's seen as wrong to learn your counting by having to sort for medicine or religious economies but it's seen as wrong to learn how to count for no real reason within the tribe's culture. Both these cultures think they are doing the right thing in teaching kids how to count and the other is wrong that's how the culture affects your moral sense since both cultures feel that they are doing the right thing. "Yesterday for the third time in two weeks, he came home crying and said he wanted to have his haircut," that was said in paragraph fourteen.

Latin American Culture Vs Western Culture Analysis

Culture refers to the common beliefs and behavior patterns of a group of people. In an organizational setup, it refers to the common values that the stakeholders of the organization share, and impact their decision-making process. According to Cristina De Rossi, “Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave with loved ones, and a million other things” (De Ross, 2015). Western culture refers to the cultures that are heavily influenced by European cultures, and has its roots from the Greco-Roman cultures as well as Christianity and spread through immigration to other parts of the world. Eastern culture is the culture of the Eastern Asian countries including China, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, and India (Zimmermann, 2017).

Arguments Against Cultural Relativism

Every society has its own unique cultures in which people will have different ideas of moral codes. The diversity of these cultures cannot be said to be correct or incorrect. Every society has independent standards of ethic within their society and these standards are culture-bound. Cultural Relativism has a perception in which rightness or wrongness of an action depends entirely within the bounds of the culture. This theory opposes the belief in the objectivity of moral truth.

Cultural Relativism In Social Media

In other words, “right” or “wrong” are culture specific, what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality that exist, no one has the right to judge another societies custom (Ess, 2009). Cultural Relativism is closely related to ethical relativism, which views truth as variable and not absolute. What makes up right and wrong is determined solely by individual or the society (Ess, 2009). Since the truth is not object, there can be no standards which applies to all cultures.

Ethical Relativism Strengths And Weaknesses Essay

(Luco, Week 3 Notes, p.9) Cultural Relativism is simply a combination of the following three theses: 1. The only criterion of moral truth or falsehood is the moral code of a cultural group. 2. A moral claim is true, relative to a culture’s moral code, if and only if the claim is generally accepted within that cultural

Examples Of Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism has a variety of definitions, but the main idea is that a universal code of ethics does not exist--it varies culture to culture. Rachel’s examines cultural relativism in “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism” and argues that there are commonalities of ethics throughout every culture. Rachels sections off his argument to better explain what they believe. In this piece, they argue that cultural relativism is not a proper theory. They argue that it has many major flaws, but they acknowledge that parts of theory have some truth to it.

More about The Importance Of Cultural Relativism

Related topics.

• The Culture
• United States
• Anthropology
• Cross-cultural communication

importance of Cultural relativism

Pssst… we can write an original essay just for you.

Any subject. Any type of essay. We’ll even meet a 3-hour deadline.

writers online

Cultural relativism refers to the view that moral or ethical systems which are different from each culture are equally valid and there is no better culture than any other. Hence, one does not judge a lifestyle to their standards of what is wrong and right. Instead, a person should try to understand the cultural practices of other groups in its context. However, some people are worried that the concept of culture may be abused and misinterpreted. This does not mean that what one culture behaves it implies that all cultures act the same. Two different cultures may possess different answers according to various practices. A society that accepts the notion that there is no ultimate right or wrong loses its ability to make any judgment. Hence, relativism breaks down in general when examined from a purely logical view. This paper aims to show the importance of cultural relativism using two examples.

Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page

The other importance of cultural relativism is to create a society without judgment. In the modern world, we are trained to judge others without giving a second thought. Some people look at others and say they are glad that not them in certain circumstances. Cultural relativism enables the judgment to go away and the only person that judge one is their self. Hence, people who fail to agree with others are able to set their codes and standards for their individualist purpose. For example, I used to judge people who consumed wield things such as insects. I would how a person fries a cricket and feeding of them. To me, it sounded disgusting, and hence I thought people would feed on insect due to poverty. However, I met a student from exchange program who came from Mexico. The lady was in my class, and during the interaction, she mentioned different dish they feed on their country. I was hence interested in learning more about the insect. I later learned that fried insects such as cricket are full of protein. The dish has been eaten for thousands of years as a healthy source of food. I hence learned that one should inquire about other people’s culture before coming up with conclusions. This may save people from judging others and also branding them as poor or weirdo’s.

Cultural relativism is very important since it helps preserves human culture . Humanity is a different set of practices, ideas, and thoughts. Hence, individuals accepting other peoples culture helps to preserve them. Sometimes, traditions are set aside first to allow group standard to be appeased. It also stops cultural conditioning where people tend to adapt their beliefs to people they spend time with on a regular basis. This cultural conditioning prevents people from experiencing their individual’s view. However, cultural relativism may create chaos in society. People may opt to follow their moral code since there is no right or wrong. They hence pursue any life they prefer under the theory of cultural relativism. An example a person may steal something rather than purchasing since its right to do so according to their community. There is a particular culture in Africa where one community take livestock from others. Their man is praised for being a hero’s and gathering more animals. Hence, chaos is likely to develop in such a community and their neighborhood since there is no real way to protect people. Other community still practice cultures which are outdated such as female circumcision, failure to educate girl child. Such cultures should not be treated since they may lead to gender discrimination and everyone has a right to education. Female circumcision is known to have adverse effects on women and may lead to complications and finally death. Hence, discouraging such cultures may not be referred to as judging.

In conclusion, cultural relativism offers a platform where no one judges other peoples culture. Cultural relativism is an essential aspect of society. It promotes cooperation in society since humanity is healthy due to the difference we all have. Hence, embracing the difference we have brings the collaboration which will enable the community to be stronger. Elliot outlined in his book how he coped with foreigner’s culture. He came to Kenya to carry out his field work. During his mission in Samburu, he met laibon who adopted him in his family. He respected their culture and coped with the family well. However, cultural relativism may create chaos in society. People may opt to follow their moral code since there is no right or wrong. They hence pursue any life they prefer under the theory of cultural relativism. Examples of such culture include the society that encourages stealing of other people property and also those practice female circumcision. Hence, discouraging such lifestyles may not be referred to as judging.

  Remember! This is just a sample.

Save time and get your custom paper from our expert writers.

In case you can’t find a sample example, our professional writers are ready to help you with writing your own paper. All you need to do is fill out a short form and submit an order

• EssayBasics.com
• Pay For Essay
• Write My Essay
• Homework Writing Help
• Essay Editing Service
• Thesis Writing Help
• Write My College Essay
• Do My Essay
• Term Paper Writing Service
• Coursework Writing Service
• Write My Research Paper
• Assignment Writing Help
• Essay Writing Help
• Call Now! (USA) Login Order now
• EssayBasics.com Call Now! (USA) Order now
• Writing Guides

Cultural Relativism (Essay Sample)

Cultural relativism.

We all come from different cultures and therefore, have our own sets of beliefs and norms that we ascribe to. To some of us, it is accurate that we are slaves of our cultural beliefs. Often, people look at things and even pass judgement while being guided or being influenced by their cultural background. Therefore, it is indeed possible to find or say something from another culture is right or wrong or ethical and unethical especially when our cultures guide us. The above is often referred to cultural bias, and cultural relativism is the opposite of such thinking. Cultural relativism seeks to have people judge or view values, beliefs, principles, and practices within the confines of a particular culture. This means that while the norms may vary from culture to culture, everyone is right or equal simply because there is no single system which is fit enough to be used as a yardstick. Cultural relativism was born from the idea that the world lacks an ultimate standard measure of right or wrong and good or evil. Consequently, whatever people regard as right or wrong and good or evil is indeed the product of the society. Therefore, every deed in society is subject to an individual’s cultural perspective or simply an individual’s cultural background.

Currently, it appears that cultural relativism is almost upheld all over the world of course except a few societies. Today, use of words such as tolerance, pluralism, as well as acceptance has become rampant, and people are culturally creating space for others. People seem to understand each other better and are willing to seek to comprehend the workings of other cultures. To a large extent, cultural relativism has helped us to co-exist and to accommodate each other despite our diverse cultural backgrounds. People do not question or out-rightly say something is evil or good unless the action in question is universally considered good or evil.

However, it is essential to consider all factors that relate to cultural relativism. Initially, we had cultural perspective, and it brought about a willingness to seek to understand politics, history as well as psychology. People used to want to understand another culture’s actions rather than opt for the easy way out and say “we need to understand and accept the morals of other cultures.” The universal truths, lies, good as well as evil were coined because we had cultural perspective. Gradually, however, the world has moved on from seeking to understand history and psychology to simply accepting everything as it is. The world has slowly eroded the aspect of reason, and currently, it is almost impossible to categorize something as morally right or wrong.

In conclusion, it is true to say that cultural relativism has helped to become accommodative. However, it is also true that it is gradually robbing us off the ability to make or pass any judgements whatsoever. We have become more tolerant as well as accommodative to more bizarre and incomprehensible activities in the name of cultural relativism. As is always the case, people have turned what cultural relativism originally meant to something contradictory. The incorporation and global adoption of the words tolerance, acceptance, and pluralism have also helped to dilute the matter at hand. It is fair to say that absolute relativism is nearly impossible and that its basic premise of truth being relative is flawed.

Importance Of Cultural Relativism

Show More Cultural relativism enables moral differences between cultures to be all acceptable and right depending on context. This means that moral concepts can come across as morally wrong for a group in one context and pass as morally right for another in other contexts. Though I recognize the relevance of cultural relativism in establishing that it is possible to have some variations in the frameworks of truth, I believe that the truth about morality is absolute and cannot be too broadly interpreted. Morality, by definition, cannot be relative or dependent on context because the purpose of moral concepts is to help an individual or society distinguish between what is ethically wrong and what is ethically right. Hence, they must be upheld in the same …show more content… Personal judgments are relative in the sense that they can vary depending on the experiences and lens of each individual. This does not hold true when it comes to morality due to the alleged fact that it is just not in one’s first tendency to think of morality as relative. Conventional rules can be relative, but moral rules are intended to be universally justified. For example, it is a conventional rule for college students in school to show up to an exam during exam weeks and let’s just say one student could not due to personal health reasons. When put into context, having a health issue is a justifiable excuse for the student to miss the exam and a proper judgment is to have the student take a make-up exam. Moral principles are objective true in the sense that they are not based on personal views, circumstances, or inclinations. Take academic dishonesty for example, just because you are sick or you are in a situation where you need to pass the exam to graduate, that does not make your act of cheating more ethically acceptable than that of a lazy student who cheated because he did not study. On a moral standpoint, it is ethically wrong to cheat regardless of the situations or personal opinions. As you can see here, moral standards are meant to be impersonal– only either right or wrong. It is human nature to want to put everything into context …show more content… Some are likely to object on the grounds that morality is impossible to determine and further raise the question of who or what gets to decide what is morally acceptable and what is not. Moral universalism is possible to determined because it is a set of moral codes that are generally agreed upon by most of the societies in the world. Generally speaking, behaviors that induce pain upon others, disrupt social order, and exert a negative impact on one’s surrounding would be considered as immoral. Morals can be difficult to be clearly determined in certain situations, but that do not mean it is impossible to determine what is morally right and what is not. This can be seen in the debate surrounding the ethics of torture. Torture is often employed as a mean to gain information and it is often easier said than done to outright classify torture as unethical when in extreme circumstances, it can provide information regarding a terrorist attack that can be used in preventive security measures. The guideline of morality is indeed not easy to resolve in situation like this, however, when taken the concept of moral universalism into account, the moral nature of torture can be determined. Humans cannot be treated in the same manner as objects and purposefully inflicting pain and

Related Documents

The case against ethical relativism louis pojman analysis.

The world of Pojman On behalf of Pojman and his interpretation of universal moral principles “The individual realizes his personality through his culture, hence respect for individual differences entails a respect for cultural differences” The executive board of the American Anthropological Association (69) The executive board of the American Anthropological Association proposal was meant to acknowledge moral diversity in different cultures around the world. This fragment was part of an introductory reading to the essay, “ The Case Against Ethical Relativism” by Louis Pojman. In this essay, he elaborates different arguments against ethical relativism, explains his own interpretation of universal moral principles and reconciles cultural…

Walter Terance Stace's Ethics Are Not Relative

Walter Terance Stace is an empirical philosopher who wrote the article, “Ethics Are Not Relative”, which asserts that “there is no single universal objective standard.” He presents us with two sides, that of the Ethical Relativist (left) vs. that of the Ethical Absolutist (right). The absolutists argue in one true moral code, and that there are no exceptions to this moral code, regardless if it’s contrary to one’s beliefs. While the relativist argues that there are many moral laws, codes, standards. Relativists state that a moral value “is relative to the age, the place, and the circumstance in which it is found.”…

Ruth Benedict's Arguments Of Moral Relativity

Ruth Benedict first seeks to demonstrate that perceptions of morality vary between cultures. Only providing one or two examples would evidently be insufficient so we are deluged with many. She dwells on this point, but it is easy enough to grant. However, after wearing us down with these examples, she unexpectedly jumps directly to her conclusion of moral relativity. Unless I am perceiving it incorrectly—which is entirely possible—this is the gist of her argument: cultures have differing views on morality; therefore, morality is relative.…

Harman's Arguments Against Moral Relativism

Even though Harman provides a plethora of moral diversity examples to support his defense on moral relativism, a mistake already persists in his claim for defending it. Harman claims that all moral right and wrong are always relative to a choice of moral framework. This claim proposes an absolute moral standard. It is illogical for one to propose a relativist’s claim by using an absolute moral standard. Therefore, the relativist’s claim is illogical.…

Mordidas From A Cultural Relativism Perspective

1a. Cultural relativism is the view that no culture is superior to any other culture when comparing systems of morality, law, politics, etc. (AllAboutPhilosophy.org, n.d.) It does not offer a universal right and wrong, but rather offers the notion of morals based on the cultural environment. This diverges from the traditional ethical theories of doing what is right and adopts the ethical theories that are the “lay of the land” as they relate to the local culture in which the dilemma takes place.…

Satisfactory Moral Theory Analysis

In the last Chapter, Rachels discusses the creation of a "Satisfactory Moral Theory”, in this paper I will discuss my own creation of the Satisfactory Moral Theory. The moral theories are supposed to help us decide what are the right and wrong actions, but, not all the moral theories are perfect. We may feel that a certain conclusion to a problem is fair or unfair, but what theory do we use to make judgments?. I will start with the cultural relativism theory, to understand different cultures, There is a need to know that one community’s beliefs and practices are not usually the same as the other community. In fact, cultural relativism seems the most applicable approach to be taken on for communications purposes.…

Relativism And Culture

“Different cultures have different moral codes”, James Rachels discusses in his article Why Morality Is Not Relative? (160). Moral codes differ from culture to culture and each culture tends to have their own individual standards. Cultural relativism is said to be “moral rules differ from society to society” (18). Cultural relativism can be looked at as a theory based on nature of morality. Each culture has their own moral codes, typically created by their ancestors.…

Hands Off Clitoridectomy Yael Tamy Analysis

The article, “Hands Off Clitoridectomy” by Yael Tamir, discusses the controversial topic of clitoridectomy, and all the arguments within the subject while opening up a new way of perceiving it by comparing it to our own society and practices. She suggest that indeed the practice of clioridectomy is a gruesome and gutwrenching, but there is more to the subject than just the moral issues of it. She address the political and social aspects of performing and living with the procedure and addresses them with passive but firm arguments. Her main point of the article is that our society needs to stop judging and creating prejudices aimed at other cultures or societies when in fact we could be bettering our own society rather than critiquing others.…

James Rachels's Theory Of Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism may be defined as a theory that advocates the idea of subjective morality. To extrapolate, this theory entails that “different cultures have differing moral codes” and these variances are merely arbitrary. Although this is a seemingly sufficient theory, there are key issues with this school of thought. James Rachels suggests several issues with accepting cultural relativism. He criticizes cultural relativism by stating that the theory is absurd as it entails severe consequences if practiced.…

Difference Between Relativism And Objectivism

Without rules you have conflict, with conflict you have chaos, and when you have chaos you live in a dangerous world. I spoke about the two theories of moral standards: Ethical relativism and Ethical objectivism. The theory of Ethical Objectivism is one that I relate to because some rules are correct, and these determine which moral claims are true and which are false. No matter what we think or believe, things are what they are because that is how they exist in the…

Essay On Meta Ethical Theory

Therefore, moral relativism is the most reasonable way to look at ethics as ethics can widely differ within its unique context. In identifying the ways of knowing, we have clarified that people take different approaches toward various ethical issues under their own unique context. Then, we explored the areas of study in which ethics are involved, and discovered that certain context, such as time period, can create different viewpoints on ethics. By clearly evaluating the meta-ethical theories after identifying the crucial elements that compose ethics, we discover that moral relativism is the most reasonable way to look at ethics as ethics can widely differ within its unique…

Ethical Relativism Research Paper

Philosophy paper on relativism and weather I agree or disagree In the following paper I will be discussing relativism, more specifically cultural and ethical relativism and weather I agree or disagree with that philosophy. Cultural revisits state that “no particular moral or ethical position can actually be considered “right” or “wrong.” Ethical relativism states that …”whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced”. I agree with ethical and cultural relativism because there is no right or wrong moral code because people and societies have different beliefs.…

Implications Of Ethical Subjectivism And Cultural Relativism

However, in cultural relativism it is normally all the members of that certain culture who decides on what is morally acceptable. Perhaps this is why Thomas (2014) believed that, moral beliefs within a culture are true or false depending on whether they accord with the prevailing believes in that culture. However, I believe that both theories are related to a certain extent. For instance, we are all born belonging to a certain culture, community, or society.…

Moral Judgement Essay

Moral judgement is a process which defines what is wrong, right, ethical, unethical, moral, or immoral. Moral judgement can also be defined as an expression of preference, opinion, will and command of individuals (383). Tom Regan and Mary Midgley both discuss the importance of moral theory and their different ways one can or can’t answer moral questions. Tom Regan focuses on the relativism point of view by expressing four different ways on how not to answer moral questions. Moral relativism depends on culture, legality, religion, and historical symbolism.…

Conclusion Of Cultural Relativism

Therefore, moral truth is relative and varies from culture to culture. Further on, he justifies why the cultural relativism argument is invalid, and why cultural relativism (if it were true) is an unacceptable form of morality. Finally, he makes concessions to acknowledge some valuable learning points of cultural relativism. In this essay, I argue the flaws in his conclusions and maintains that although it is important for objective truths to exist, cultural relativism may still be a best explanation for some extreme cases of disagreements that we observe today.…

Related Topics

Ready to get started.

• Create Flashcards
• Mobile apps
•   Facebook
•   Twitter
• Cookie Settings