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Value Of Cultural Relativism

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CULTURAL RELATIVISM
A FELLOW STUDENT
UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE
Introduction
Cultural relativism is an ethical stance that centers around the belief that moral norms and mores are rooted in ones culture (Baghramian, 2017). This perspective differentiates it from traditional ethical theories as morals derived from this model are bound to an individual culture and not universally applicable. Furthermore, cultural relativism posits that there is no hierarchy of ethical models, only alternative ones of equal merit.

Cultural relativism examined and applied In Mexico City, low wages for police officers provide them with an impetus to demand bribes instead of handing out tickets. This practice, unconventional as it may be to an outsider, …show more content…

Offering to bribe a police officer could land you in serious trouble, and at the very least, raise some suspicion and lead to a lengthy detention. Ethically, the values that differentiate it from the Mexico City system are that as a society, we all should contribute towards maintaining law and order, and as such should publicly fund police in whole. Another value of this ethical argument is that the lack of incentive for police to look for bribes deters police officers from seeking out opportunities to extort the public. As such, the police are more likely to focus on the more serious crimes and enforce the law as dictated by their training, rather than worrying about making money (Williams, …show more content…

In both cases the facts are the same: the general public is in need of a mechanism for maintaining law and order. The values in both models align somewhat: both countries have determined that a government sanctioned and trained police force is the best way to reach this end. But from here the values differ; in Mexico City police officers are charged with collecting their paychecks directly from the law infracting citizens whereas in Canada the citizenship as a whole is charged with funding this legal undertaking. The rationale in both cases is sound, so it seems that there are two equally valid models for policing. The cultural relativist would agree; neither model is better than the other. I would agree. Although the model I am used to here seems more sound, I am immersed in it and therefore biased. Personally, I think a model where the guilty pay for their transgressions, and the innocent are spared the taxation that is levied to support policing is a perfectly acceptable ethical model. I do not believe one model is superior to the other, they both have their strengths and

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