Cultural Relativism Issues

The Issues Surrounding Cultural Relativism Everyone is entitled to their own opinion regardless of any outside factors. Opinions are mostly shaped by cultural biases that form perspectives on certain topics or ideas. Therefore, one cannot take another person’s opinion as fact because of the aforementioned aspect of bias that an opinion has. The concept of cultural relativism is key to understanding exactly why these biases form and why cultures develop the way they do. Cultural relativism refers to a local truth in which each culture cannot judge one another, regardless of whether those truths are morally good or evil. Outsiders who do not identify or participate with the culture executing these practices cannot judge those committing the act. Cultural relativism within itself is nonsensical as it contradicts itself on several …show more content…
What’s stopping evil from presiding over good? Who decides what’s evil or good? No one can answer these questions because no truths are absolute according to cultural relativism. However, cultural relativism was created in order to emphasize that no mode of thinking is dominant over another, thus explaining the differences between cultures. Yet, issues arise out of cultural relativism due to it being so inclusive. Ethnocentrism, on the other hand, is exclusive and provides solutions to the problems found in cultural relativism due in part by the belief that one culture is dominant over the other. Although ethnocentrism provides a solution to these problems, the concept within itself also brings a number of issues that are bigger than the ones posed by cultural relativism. There are many different interpretations for cultural relativism as the concept prides itself on being culturally sensitive and open minded that it leaves no grounds to decide absolutes such as good or