The Principles Of Cultural Relativism

Common behavior in any society reflects the culture. Culture often reflects the customary events and behaviors of the group or population. Within the culture, the people share moral, practices and beliefs, from generation to generation. When observing society based on this concept, there are several advantages of cultural relativism. In this argumentative essay, I will expand on James Rachels look on cultural relativism, different moral codes, and cultural differences. Appearance of the moral, customs and principles shared within a culture represent the composite of all things with the society. Cultural relativism encourages people to express appropriateness or unfairness of personal ethics and morality.

Progression of cultural relativism eliminates all meaning from a society, which encourages an individual perspective; people must have their morale code. Cultural relativism involves understanding of somebody’s values, beliefs, or practices based on that individual culture. This idea supports on the concepts which elimination of standard of good or evil. One’s decision about right and wrong is a formation of today’s society. Opinions on ethics or morality is subject to the social standpoint of one’s moral belief.

Cultural relativists have faith that all cultures are worthy in their own right and are of equal value. It supports a neutral meaning such as no moral or ethical system should consider the concept of “best,” or “worst,” nor “right” or “wrong.” Another advantage, cultural relativism eliminates the influence of societal conditioning. When cultural relativism is the major force, people does not need to adjust to society separately because this theory treat watch culture as an individual.

Rachels’ key points is that cultural relativism is based on a damaged argument which he calls the cultural differences argument. The argument is different cultures have different beliefs. So, there isn’t a neutral truth within mortality. For example, if one group of culture believes that the earth is leveled and another that it is round, we shouldn’t settle on the fact that there is no objective truth about the shape of the earth. The fact is that one group may simply be mistaken. Many arguments elevated competing ethical morals and led to disagreeing conclusions, but they all have one thing in common. In other words, the assumption is that there was objective moral truth. Cultures differ between one another and have many different moral codes. James shows this with the story of King Darius.

King Darius, the Callations and the Greeks were a part of the story. There was an Indian tribe, which were the Callations. To show respect to their dead fathers, they ate them. Meanwhile, the Greeks were cremated and buried by their members. According to this chapter, Darius thought of a cultured understanding of the world must include a gratefulness of the difference between cultures. To teach this lesson, he asked some Greeks what would they take to eat the bodies of their dead fathers. They were stunned by his reasoning, and responded that no amount of money could persuade them to do such a thing. Then Darius called in a few Callations, he proceeded to ask them what they would take to burn their dead fathers’ bodies. The Callations were disgusted and told Darius now to ever mention that again to them. This story shows different cultures have different moral codes. What is said to be right to one group may be utterly disrespectful to another.

Most people in the U.S. consider polygamy to be morally disturbing to society. Although, it is very common for men to have several wives in some cultures, including Islamic countries. Our way of living seems so correct, that it is very hard to amend with others’ way of living. So, when we do hear of “strange” practices, we immediately categorize others as “weird” or “backwards”.

Different norms will forever be passed on, the different cultures have convinced many people of “Cultural Relativism”. Rachels pointed out claims made by cultural relatives:

1. Different societies have different moral codes
2. The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society; that is, if the moral code of a society says that a certain action is right, then that action is right, at least within that society.
3. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one society’s code better than another’s.
4. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merely one among many.
5. There is no “universal truth” in ethics; that is, there are no moral truths that hold for all peoples at all times.
6. It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures.

These six claims seem to go together but remotely they are independent from one another. It’s in the sense that some may be false regardless if others are true or not.

Cultural relativism is commonly accepted in today’s society. Grounded simply off what an individual society, firm beliefs are considered acceptable while others looked as wicked. It makes complete sense about how different culture differ from one another.

Like James Rachels mentions in “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism”, all societies must have some common morals in order to exist as a society. An example is not committing murder to one another. These morals that we have are all ways that have been passed down for years now. Why should a human being be able to take life of another species? That allows someone to obstruct the progression of our own people. However, some cultures are okay with their terms and beliefs, so that bring the question, what is right and wrong?

There are many advantages on cultural relativism, these should be taken in to consideration before judgement upon another group. Advantages like a value of respect for other others, justifiable actions or preserving one’s culture. A huge advantage that can be brought from cultural relativism is to have a worldwide respect for all countries around the globe. As we know, there ae thousands of different beliefs, cultures, heritages, food, and ways of living in todays society. If one person beliefs something is right and that anything else that oppose of the is wrong, it reminds me of discrimination. Isolating the fact that there are many different moral codes. As listed above, another advantage is justifiable excuses for one’s culture. Almost every action that is made can be looked as a cultural difference when thinking about cultural relativism. While this seems like a disadvantage, there are certainly advantages to it. There is an overwhelming number of morals in the whole world, and with social and other types of media, even the smallest action is made into a global spectacle and debate. Learning the fundamental knowledge of cultural relativism will help to ease much of this pointless debate.