Relativism

3. Cultural relativism is the theory that each culture…

Universalism is the opposite metaethical view from cultural relativism, and states that right and wrong are not based on culture or society at all. Moral rules transcend cultural boundaries and apply to everyone; there is only one correct moral code and all people should live by it, regardless of their society or culture. The implication is that in many cases societies are following the wrong moral principles, and they need to change. According to this view morals are objective and therefore…

I think moral relativism is a sound theory. There is no wrong or right and people have just made it up to make their lives easier and better. It is a worthy theory because one cannot test for something that is right or wrong and people do things because it helps them or it makes them think more highly of themselves. If I said stealing was right could you prove to me that it was actually wrong? Ethics is not like science where someone can run some tests and figure out the answer. Because everyone…

In Mary Midgley's Trying Out One's New Sword, she explains that moral isolationism "Consists in simply denying that we can never understand any culture except our own well enough to make judgments about it. Midgley argues that not only is moral isolationism incorrect, it is logically incoherent. She explains that the people who take up this idea of moral isolationism think that it is being respectful to other cultures and societies but you cannot claim to be respectful to something that is…

In James Rachel’s book, The Elements of Moral Philosophy Rachel argues that there are some major problems with the logic that Cultural Relativism is based on. In this paper I am going to argue against Moral Disagreement in which I will merge Cultural Relativism with subjectivism. CR states that the view rightness/wrongness and goodness/badness are culturally determined. What the majority of one’s culture decides is right or wrong. With that definition I would be sure this is true, but some…

practices. When studying other cultures researchers have to keep cultural relativism as a priority. Cultural relativism is an important idea that all scholars use. In anthropology, it is used when researchers look at different groups of people like the Yanomamo. When Napoleon Chagnon went and studied one of the most violent group he could not judge their traditions, customs or religious believes with his modern views. Cultural relativism does not only affect culture and different times, but also…

of today has many different cultures that can be better understood when you view the cultures from a close and distinctive perspective. According to Crapo (2013), ethnocentrism is viewing your own culture as superior to others; whereas, cultural relativism is regarding a different culture based on the culture itself. However, observing a different culture other than your own without judgment can be difficult. It is quite challenging to look at a different culture without being judgmental and…

interpretation of the human mind. With this idea, he threw out the existence of God, since he is described as an infinite and absolute being, and any other types of absolute truth that could infer out of perspective knowledge. However, Nietzsche’s view of relativism is flawed because of the fact that if a person does not understand a concept or has no current proof of something does not make it false or…

Cultural relativism consists of what is good and bad that is relative to the culture. In a way what is good if society approves the idea, but bad if one disapproves of the idea (Farias, 2015a). The culture in this case is the use of genetically modified organisms. Beginning with the people of Haiti, who burned the seeds Monsanto had given them. The activists in Haiti saw the seeds offered by Monsanto as poison, harming the health of their people. In their culture they saw seeds as life of the…

In anthropology, there is a concept called Cultural Relativism. This idea is that you cannot judge another culture based on your experiences within your own culture. Meaning that just because something is bad in your culture it may be the norm in another. That concept is very important when you are studying another culture. It helps prevent bad or unfair judgments from forming. An example of this could be if you are working in an area where they eat dogs. As an American who views dogs as pets,…