Preview

Is Cultural Relativism Morally Permissible?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
449 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Is Cultural Relativism Morally Permissible?
Cultural relativism is the moral theory that states that morality is created together by many individual groups of humans and morality therefore is not fixed, but rather varies from culture to culture, peoples, and different contextual situations. Cultural relativism preaches that certain practices are always morally permissible for a culture as long as the members of the culture see it as morally right. For example if a culture has a traditional custom that believes it’s okay for them to eat the bodies of deceased family members than it’s morally permissible because morality isn’t objective for all groups throughout the world and varies throughout. That group that believes it’s permissible to eat the bodies of deceased family members created morality for their …show more content…
So therefore, there is no objective truth in morality. Right and wrong are only matters of opinion, and opinions vary from culture to culture”(Rachel’s, 698). Rachel’s rejects this argument because the premise of this argument is a descriptive claim but the conclusion is a normative claim. Descriptive claims are facts about what is actually the objective truth in the world, and normative claims are facts about what ought to be the case in the world. For example just because a group of people believe it’s morally permissible to practice same sex acts doesn’t mean it’s a descriptive fact of the matter. There’s no objective truth that same-sex behavior is morally permissible or morally impermissible. Just cause it’s descriptively true that there are societies that continue to accept it doesn’t mean that it’s the case that societies out to continue to allow same sex behavior. None of these societies are either right or wrong. The premise of the cultural differences argument is a descriptive claim and the conclusion is a normative claim therefore making it an invalid

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    1) The thief found himself in an imbroglio when he released he did not have any mask on to hide his identity as a thief.…

    • 1038 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    ART 101 Week 5 DQ

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cultural Relativism. Cultural relativism asserts that every culture has its own set of customs and beliefs, and that culture must be understood by the standards and values of the people within that culture. Anthropologists think that things that might seem cruel or irrational in our own culture must be seen through the lens of cultural relativity, and that all cultures have practices or beliefs that can be seen by others as repugnant or incomprehensible.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Culture-The idea that the morality of an action depends on the beliefs of one cultures or nation.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    For example, by following the cultural relativism theory we would not be able to criticise the practice of female circumcision in many countries in Africa, even though it causes long and short term health concerns for female involved. It also shows when believe systems or old traditions tend to shape cultures how illogical, irrational acts could be carried by the name of traditions. Since there is no technique to qualitatively evaluate cultures, all the cultures could claim that they are absolutely right. Furthermore, cultural relativism does not even let us judge or criticise own cultural values, practices, lifestyles, morals and ethics, which halts the process of improving and in a sense change in our own cultures as…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Vietnam War, which lasted from 1954 to 1975, ushered in a new era of weapons, bringing forth new tactics and technology. The Vietnam War was a war located mainly in the jungles and forests of South Vietnam. The war was fought between the communist regime of North Vietnam and their counterparts in the south, the Viet Cong, and South Vietnam, who had allies like the USA, and resulted in over 3 million deaths, including over 58,000 Americans.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    cultural relativism - the notion that cultures should be analyzed with reference to their own histories and values rather than according to the values of another culture…

    • 1428 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cultural Relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. Cultural relativists believe that all cultures are worthy in their own right and are of equal value. Diversity of cultures, even those with conflicting moral beliefs, is not to be considered in terms of right and wrong or good and bad. Some believe that morality is relative to culture, but some believe that argument is invalid. Some also argue that there is such a thing as moral isolationism.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cultural relativism can be defined as the understanding that the choices one can consider morally right are those approved of by one’s culture. Cultural differences in moral beliefs don’t imply cultural relativism because nonmoral beliefs can alter the perspective of basic moral principles shared by the culture. This would imply that there are no universally set/correct moral standards. Saying that cultural differences in moral beliefs imply cultural relativism is only part of an argument, not a conclusion supported by valid premises. There is the possibility that the moral issue in question is, in fact, an objective truth, in which case the culture is purely wrong. If cultural relativism exists, and no culture can ever be wrong in their moral…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Rachels begins his critique of cultural relativism through what he calls the “Cultural Differences Argument”. This is the primary premise from which cultural relativist employ when defending their position. The argument summarized by Rachel as:…

    • 1686 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Afghan Woman

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cultural Relativism is the practice of judging a culture by its own standards (pg. 54) it maybe difficult for travelers to adapt to. It requires not only openness to unfamiliar values and norms but also the ability to put aside cultural standards we have known all of our lives.…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Every man in this world defends his concepts of what is morally right or what is morally wrong, otherwise known as ethics. If ethics wasn’t studied or systematized, concepts that shape our every day life would be questioned with lack of knowledge, just as if any other scholarly subject wasn’t studied such as math or English. Albert Camus once stated, “A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.”…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    We all come from different places and are born into different beliefs and do not always agree with one another in what is true and what is not. From television, to Internet and newspapers we get to read what surround us, what is happening in our every day life, but what are we reading and watching is it trustworthy? Can they tell us what is true or false? People disagree about many issues presented to them for example what is said in religion to what science proves and so on. This is where cultural relativism comes in, morally is correct to the beliefs and ethics of a particular culture within that same society. By this theory, no one can go against another society and say that their beliefs are right or wrong; it is up to one’s society where they choose what is correct or wrong. Philosopher James Rachels argues, cannot conclude a disagreement based on opinions on an issue and there could be possible a certainty of truth behind it. Considering this next argument provided by…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If cultural relativism was true, I think we would have considerably increased cases of war between cultures. Cultures have such…

    • 182 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Saying that ethics are relative is an effortless way to avoid a controversial topic concerning ethics. In the case of relativism, we can simply say that your opinion is true and mine too and nothing being wrong with that. On the other hand, ethical absolutism tells us that there is an objective moral code and that certain of our actions as humans are necessarily right or wrong. What would happen if we say two contradictory statements can't coexist as Aristotle demonstrated? Through the law of non-contradiction from Aristotle and ethical absolutism, I will argue against ethical relativism.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Expanded Definition

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Expanded Definition: Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual person's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays