Cultural relativism holds that there is no universal morality that is common among all cultures. Specifically‚ in an article on cultural relativism James Rachels states the following characteristics of cultural relativism: 1) Different societies have different moral codes; 2) There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societal code better than another; 3) The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merely one among many; 4) There is no "universal truth"
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(Rachels 618). This claim is known as Cultural Relativism. "Cultural Relativism‚ as it has been called‚ challenges our ordinary belief in the objectivity and universality of moral truth. There is no such thing as universal truth in ethics: there there are only the various cultural codes‚ and nothing more. Moreover‚ our own code has no special status‚ it is merely one among many" (Rachels 618). It is clear that the answer to the question of ethics is‚ Cultural Relativism. The subject of murder is probably
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Racial profiling has become a prominent issue in America. After the incident with Rodney King‚ more emphasis has been placed on profiling. According to news reports‚ Rodney King was driving down the street in his hometown of L.A. when several police officers stopped him solely of the color of his skin. There are many conflicting reports that state he was speeding doing about 100 mph before they stopped him. When he was stopped‚ he was pulled out of the car‚ the police proceeded to deliver 56 baton
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Introduction Moral relativism is a moral or ethical proposition that does not reflect the objective and / or universal moral truths of the position‚ but rather requires the situation with respect to social‚ cultural‚ historical or personal circumstances. It does not deny the truth value or justification of moral statements (as a form of moral anti realism)‚ but it is certain of their relative form. A moral relativist pointed out that human beings are not omniscient‚ and history is full of personal
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Friday‚ October 18‚ 2013 Racial Profiling Most people believe that they deserve the rights they are gained by the government. An upstanding citizen who pays their taxes‚ serves their community and abides by the law should be afforded the rights of an American. However‚ not all citizens are afforded equal rights. Gay and lesbians are consistently denied rights that are typically taken for granted by the average American. Specifically‚ gay and lesbian couples are denied the right to marry even if
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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
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Cultural Relativism This essay covers various aspects of cultural relativism and its argument to readers. Cultural relativism is a theory‚ which mainly concentrates on differences in values and moral beliefs of different people. To help explain the concept of cultural relativism I have used James Rachels argument. The main idea of cultural relativism is that "Different cultures have different moral codes" (Rachels 652). This means that there is no thing as universal truth ’‚ and what is right
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other cultures and societies should be doing things the way that we do them. But‚ what if our cultural definition of what is right or wrong isn’t the case for another culture.? This paper will define cultural relativism‚ explain why it is important when studying other cultures‚ explain the difference between it and ethical relativism and explain if there are limits to cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the view that no society or culture is better than or superior to another culture when
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Cultural Relativism: A Moral Fallacy Cultural Relativism is the theory that all belief’s are equally valid and that truth itself is relative‚ depending on the situation‚ environment and individual. Those who hold the belief of Cultural Relativist‚ hold that all beliefs are completely relative to the individual within a cultural identity. In this essay‚ I will show that cultural relativism is unreliable as an ethical theory by showing the irrationality of the arguments that support it. The
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Understanding other cultures without making judgments about the way they do things or the way they understand and react to things is the basic concept of cultural relativity. The importance of this idea is demostrated by Richard B. Lee in his story about the Christmas feast with the !Kung. In this story Lee‚ a social anthropologist living with the tribe‚ experiences a misunderstanding that almost caused him to pack his belongings and leave the bushmen which were the subject of his study
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