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General criticisms of cultural relativism
Importance of promoting cultural diversity
General criticisms of cultural relativism
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In Monique and the mango Rains, there are many connections to course concepts. This book connects to the anthropological perspective which includes holism, cross culturalism, and cultural relativism. She also experiences culture shock. This book can be related to the Anthropological Perspective because there are examples of holism, cross culturalism, and cultural relativism thought the book.
Culture affects how one views others and the world around them in a large way as shown by past experiences, heritage, and family. Family affects our culture because the people we spend our life with have such a large impact on the way we act. Moreover our past experiences affect us by learning from what we and others do and the result. Things one has experienced in the past greatly affects how one views the world. This is clearly shown in Robert Lake’s(Medicine Grizzlybear’s) essay, “An Indian Father’s Plea.”
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.
Therefore, cultural relativism is imperfect. Gensler’s argument against cultural relativism is flawed because although moral views are inconsistent, local standards still determine even the most basic moral principles, so hurting others would be appropriate if the community approved of it. This flaw is damaging to Gensler’s argument because cultural relativism claims that anything that is socially approved must be good, and clearly a number of things would not be considered moral by most people. Hobbes’ Argument for Leaving the State of Nature (Hobbes, pp. 105)
Ethnocentrism occurs when one culture comes into contact with another. It the evaluation of one culture based on preconceived ideas that have derived from the customs and traditions from one’s own culture. William Summer, an American sociologist, believes that an ethnocentrism is “A view of things in which one’s own group is the centre of everything and all others are scaled and rated in reference to it” (Sorrells 2013). This phenomenon can have detrimental outcomes; such as stereotyping and prejudice both of which may hinder intercultural relations and assimilation therefore impacting on societal cohesion.
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.
This is because of moral relativism’s take on ethical dilemmas, and the view that there are a number of disagreements among people as to the nature of morality. An act can
”(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
In this prompt the argument that Morality exists is irrelevant, contrary to our thoughts and beliefs. Everyone follows a set of moral rules. Ethical relativists disagree with this belief because, they believe that morals are distinctive from each individual culture. These relativists as described are mixing up moral and cultural distinctions, or are simply not willing to completely understanding the cultures they are standing up for. There are two different types of relativism Ethical, and Cultural, that rely upon the argument of cultural differences, which have flaws that make the argument unsound.
Cultural bias highlights differences among viewpoints, persons and groups that preference one culture over all. We can describe cultural bias as discriminative because it introduces one group's accepted behavior as valued and distinguishable from another lesser valued societal group. Cultural bias was found to be the major determinant of where certain people live, what their opportunities in education and health care. Bias is a tendency to favor of one person, group, a thing or point of view over another, often, in an unfair way. Bias can be a personal opinion or a more public opinion, such as a news story, that only presents facts that support one point of view.
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.
In general, ethnocentrism has been described as an individual psychological disposition which has both positive and negative outcomes. On the one hand, ethnocentrism serves as an antecedent towards “willingness to sacrifice for one’s central group” and help in constructing and maintaining one’s cultural identity. On the other hand, ethnocentrism leads to misunderstanding, viewing their cultural way of living as “natural” and what is going on in other cultures as
Cultural globalization is often understood as the spatial diffusion of global products. At a deeper level, cultural globalization may be seen as the contested process of internationalization of values, attitudes and beliefs. The spread of cultural practices and symbols makes the world more the same, but at the same time triggers resistance. Hence, cultural globalization while uniting the world is also seen to strengthen local cultures and is a major force behind the creation of identities. Such homogenization or differentiation can be noticed in the change of cultural practices and consumption patterns over time and space.
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.
The Strength and Vulnerability of Different Moral Views Over centuries of fervent discussion in the moral world, there is still nothing like a consensus on a set of moral views. This essay attempts to outline and critically evaluate two moral views, namely ethical objectivism and cultural relativism. It is crucial to understand that both moral theories cannot be true at the same time as it results in contradictions, contributing to false beliefs. Additionally, it is essential that we discuss these issues with an open-mind so as to gain deeper insights from them. First and foremost, we will be looking at the prominent view of ethical objectivism.
