Horace Miner writes about the Nacirema‚ a culture steeped in magic and superstition. Their ways of life are portrayed as uncivilized and barbaric. The Nacirema perform rituals and rites that are strange to us here in the civilized world. The description and portrayal of this tribe make it very hard for the reader to connect or even begin to understand such a strange people. Miner starts of the article creating an atmosphere of wonderment; “if all of the logically possible combinations of behavior
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actions are good is to prove that the results of the chosen action were really better than the results of the other possible choice. (2) Second Position Moral relativism is a philosophy that defines morality in a way that directly depends on the individual or group of people involved. One prominent division within moral relativism is the meta-ethical position. The basic proposition behind this argument is that moral judgment cannot be universalized and in this way morality is relative to the
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someone who you share a primary relationship with‚ you can not make any judgement on what decisions they make. Relativists do not judge others‚ so if something very immoral makes you happy‚ a relativist can not impose on your choice of being immoral. Relativism says that all culture is good and all culture is bad; it’s the same thing as happiness‚ it can be good or bad but you can not judge a persons happiness whether it is good or bad. Overall‚ a relativist would never impose on someone’s lifestyle even
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are wrong and potential harmful‚ while the lu Mien culture considers them useful and effective. Therefore‚ we encroach upon the dilemma of cultural relativity‚ “the view that practices and behaviors can be judged only by the cultural standards of the culture in which those practices occur” (Hachen‚ n.d.). In a situation such as this‚ if we disregard cultural relativity it will certainly imply that there are universal standards by which the practices in all cultures can be evaluated. “The problem
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5) They think that their cultural elements are correct and natural. Disadvantages of ethnocentrism: 1) Ethnocentrism separate different cultures. 2 ) It leads us to make false assumptions about cultural differences.
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individual will judge other groups relative to his or her own particularized ethnic group or culture especially with concern to language‚ behavior‚ customs‚ and religion. These ethnic divergence and developments serve to define each ethnicity unique cultural identity. According to textbook The Health Anthology of American Literature it exemplifies the term ethnocentrism that predominated during the Early Colonial period. During the time period of 1700’s one of the most prominent examples of ethnocentrism
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Hi everyone‚ I’m supposed to write a motivation letter for a European university. I was born in the US but live in France and haven’t had to write in English for a while. I’ve never written a motivation letter and can’t really understand the difference between a motivation letter and a statement of purpose. Please look it over and let me know what really needs to be changed‚ and if you can help with my whole motivation letter/statement of purpose confusion I’d would be ever so grateful. I sat
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in some way superior to others‚ and the standard by which others are judged. This belief has unfortunately been an important factor in the history of the human race. It has been in existence forever‚ and therefore is very pertinent to the field of cultural anthropology. Secondly‚ ethnocentrism has been the cause of many wars‚ riots‚ and hate crimes‚ and is the basis by which racism is formed. For this reason‚ it is important to study in regards to history. From example in the past and present‚ we
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unified region‚ and contribute to the divide growing larger in today’s time. Overall‚ there are essentially many factors that contribute to the East and the West divide‚ one factor being the Greco-Persian Wars. However‚ another one of the primary socio-cultural differences that really solidified the divide between the East and the West was theology. The ideas of religion varied across the East and the West and gave way to the Christian divergence and the Schism of 1054 C.E. that brought about the mutual
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Nacirema‚ American spelled backward‚ is a satire paper attempting to force Americans to evaluate their culture and look at it in a different way. By using words that are obscure‚ atypical and abnormal to describe very common American practices‚ the paper offers a strange way of defining our culture. One instance in the paper was how Americans hold importance in oral hygiene and use tooth brushes and tooth paste to brush our teeth daily. The author describes this as a “mouth-rite” and a “revolting”
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