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Theories Of Cultural Relativism

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Relativism is a philosophical belief that is described as “a family of views whose common theme is that some central aspect of experience, thought, evaluation, or even reality is relative to something else” (Standford University 2003). Relativism believes that each opinion is equally valid. Relativism is often presented when it comes to the problem “how people ought to regard or behave towards those with whom they morally disagree” (Stanford University 2008). Cultural relativism is a more specific theory that deals with the diversity among different cultures. First, it considers that people live in a particular cultural background and enrich their cultures within the society; every culture has its own unique developmental processes that are …show more content…

Franz Boas first articulated cultural relativism theory in 1887 to argue against the idea that people can put all cultures into a large collection. He put cultural relativism as this: “Civilization is not something absolute, but that it is relative, and that our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes . . . Each civilization is the outcome of its geographical and historical surroundings” (Boas 1887, 588). According to Boas’ statement (Boas 1887), he strongly disagreed with the idea of generalization; instead, he considered that in ethnology, all was individual. Then in the 20th century, in Ruth Benedict’s article Anthropology and the Abnormal in Journal of General Psychology, she claims, “There are well-described cultures in which these abnormals function at ease and with honor, and apparently without danger or difficulty to the society” (Benedict 1934, 34). In this article (Benedict 1934), she believed it was a particular group’s practice and ideologies that define what is moral; judgment about right and wrong was a product of a society itself. Their belief can distill down to one point that people should show respect and understanding toward other groups of people. During World Wars, their ideas were used as a tool to censure cultural colonialism and to support developing …show more content…

They find that there are not only differences among people; it is of no doubt that human beings share a large number of common qualities. They believe in human rights, that is, “rights that belong to an individual or group of individuals simply for being human” (Weston 2014). Furthermore, the Unite Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a document Universal Declaration of Human Rights; this document was written “for fundamental freedom for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion” (Encyclopedia Britannica 2010, 657). The universal human rights theory declines cultural relativism because it sets unified rules for all human beings. Therefore, a heated discussion has begun in academic circle. Whether there exists an agreement on evaluative standard that can be applied in all societies is still a question. The conflict between universalism and cultural relativism remains unsolved

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The ability to see the world as others do occurs only once. This is before the instance of any stimuli, any thought or experience; before the first breath. Culture is a foundation of beliefs and morals that are specific to one’s ethnicity. This is the distinct quality that everyone has based on their abstract views and varying backgrounds. The foundation of how people identify themselves and others is shaped by their experiences and interactions throughout life.

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These human rights 'instruments', as they are called, have fixed how many rights apply to particular groups of human beings such as women or children. They have also come up with new ideas that were not part of the thinking of those who first drafted the Universal Declaration. The link between human rights and other pillars is clearly evident all the way through the UDHR. First, it allows, in the Preamble, that the credit of the unchallengeable rights of all people is the groundwork of freedom, justice and peace across the world. Secondly, it expands the UN Charter’s stated purpose of encouraging growth by giving economic, social and cultural rights the in the same degree of safety that an individual finds for civil and political rights (Marshall

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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document made up of 30 articles which deal with a series of basic human rights. It follows the theory that the declaration is

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(104-105). Seeing that there is still indifference in the world and seeing that after many years people are still fighting for their rights, It can be presumed that Humans have not changed. To conclude, human rights cannot be actualized for every person because of the lack of compassion people have for others. To achieve human rights for all people, everyone would need to understand one another and accept each other’s differences.

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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.

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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.

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Correspondingly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights depend on dignity, equality and mutual respect – regardless of your nationality, your religion or your beliefs. Your rights are tied in with being dealt with reasonably and treating others decently, and being able to make on decisions about your own life. These fundamental human rights are: Universal; They have a place with every one of us; They can't be detracted from us, Indivisible and independent Governments should not have the capacity to choose

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Philosophy 2200C Taylor Pearl Paper #1 The Cultural Differences Argument for Moral Relativism In this paper I will be discussing the theory of the Cultural Differences Argument for Moral Relativism and also the flaws this theory holds. First I will explain the general idea of Moral Relativism, followed by two examples of cultural differences that are often cited to further explain this theory. After that I will discuss what the Cultural Differences Argument is for Moral Relativism.

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This is shown in “A Defense of Ethical Relativism” where Ruth Benedict gives examples of different circumstances. However, as shown in the example of the eskimo female newborns and male eskimos those who believe in Cultural Relativism seem to get morals, and cultural distinctions confused. These tribal people have different ways of dealing with their relatives, one being no right than the

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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.

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Ethnocentrism is a silent problem which many people are not aware of. Some scholars have defined ethnocentrism as “the making of judgements” based on criteria of one’s cultural groups. It is characterized by applying those criteria in judging other behaviors and belief of people who may be from the different cultural backgrounds. Bennett, a founding director and CEO of the Intercultural Development Research Institute (IDR Institute), has defined ethnocentrism as “assuming that the worldview of one’s own culture is central to all reality”. He also suggested that people who has ethnocentric mindset tend to use their own worldview to interpret other’s behavior and that the idea of a “universal truth” is usually based on one’s own value.

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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.

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“Cultural Relativist and Feminist Critique of International Human Rights- Friends or Foes?” The journal, “Cultural Relativist and Feminist Critique of International Human Rights- Friends or Foes?” by Oonagh Reitman have the aim to know deeper about the two critiques towards the universal Human Rights by the two major theory, which are the Cultural Relativism and Feminism, how they see the universal Human Rights theory. The Journal address for the workshop discussion matter regarding to the similarities on critique of International human rights that made by the Cultural relativist and the feminist. “ Human Rights is the right that given and held by human simply because they are human, and it does not classified nor held by certain groups or not the subject to variation in culture”(Donnelly 1989: 109-110) From the introduction in the journal, the writer defines how the feminist and the cultural relativist express their idea of Universal human rights. The idea of Universal human rights from Donnelly were being reserve by Relativist, they argue that the human rights itself root from culture and due to the variation of culture, making the human rights not universal.

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(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

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Human Rights What are Human Rights? Human Rights are commonly understood as being those rights which are inherent to the human being. The concept of human rights acknowledges that every single human being is entitled to enjoy his or her human rights without distinction as to race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Human rights are legally guaranteed by human rights law, protecting individuals and groups against actions which interfere with fundamental freedom and human dignity. They are expressed in treaties, customary international law, bodies of principles and other sources of law.

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