Cultural Relativism 
Nathan Whittingham
Professor Mariana
Philosophy 120
12 October 2014
The Fallacy of Cultural Relativism
The diversity of beliefs and ways of life is a conspicuous phenomenon that occurs within the human race. For example, what Satanists find right and reasonable is damnable to Christians, and vice-versa. Additionally, the ancient Aztecs practiced human sacrifice for reasons that today, we find totally illogical. And just as we, in America, now look back upon our history regarding slavery with a feeling of abhorrence, there is no doubt that future generations will be similarly perplexed and repulsed by some of our modern day practices and rituals. For these exact reasons, it is simple for a common person to fallaciously infer that there is no objective truth— one may be inclined to believe that all truths are relative to the respective individual. In Philosophy, this theory is called “Relativism.” Relativism is the philosophical position that all points of view are equally valid, and that truth is relative to the individual. Relativism claims that there is no universal law or objective truth to which we all must adhere. In contemporary philosophy, the most widely discussed form of relativism is moral relativism, which has two distinct parts: individual relativism and cultural relativism, (which will be the main focus of this paper). Cultural relativists claim that moral disagreements are best explained by the idea that there are many varying and irreconcilable moral truths, which are in some way determined by the beliefs of a given society; and that this is the only kind of moral truth there is. Cultural relativists argue that there is no objective truth. But, what a cultural relativist, or any relativist for that matter, fails to recognize is that any effort to reject objective truth will undercut itself. If a theory denies the existence of any objective truth, then the theory itself cannot be objectively true. Therefore, relativism poses no threat to the
Professor Mariana
Philosophy 120
12 October 2014
The Fallacy of Cultural Relativism
The diversity of beliefs and ways of life is a conspicuous phenomenon that occurs within the human race. For example, what Satanists find right and reasonable is damnable to Christians, and vice-versa. Additionally, the ancient Aztecs practiced human sacrifice for reasons that today, we find totally illogical. And just as we, in America, now look back upon our history regarding slavery with a feeling of abhorrence, there is no doubt that future generations will be similarly perplexed and repulsed by some of our modern day practices and rituals. For these exact reasons, it is simple for a common person to fallaciously infer that there is no objective truth— one may be inclined to believe that all truths are relative to the respective individual. In Philosophy, this theory is called “Relativism.” Relativism is the philosophical position that all points of view are equally valid, and that truth is relative to the individual. Relativism claims that there is no universal law or objective truth to which we all must adhere. In contemporary philosophy, the most widely discussed form of relativism is moral relativism, which has two distinct parts: individual relativism and cultural relativism, (which will be the main focus of this paper). Cultural relativists claim that moral disagreements are best explained by the idea that there are many varying and irreconcilable moral truths, which are in some way determined by the beliefs of a given society; and that this is the only kind of moral truth there is. Cultural relativists argue that there is no objective truth. But, what a cultural relativist, or any relativist for that matter, fails to recognize is that any effort to reject objective truth will undercut itself. If a theory denies the existence of any objective truth, then the theory itself cannot be objectively true. Therefore, relativism poses no threat to the