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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Horace Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Elizabeth Brower Introduction to Sociology Matthew Howell January 25‚ 2015 Abstract: Horace Miner’s point throughout the entire article of “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” was to prove to us‚ Americans‚ that we are not superior to anyone else or any other culture‚ society‚ or religion. We are all the same‚ and we just to need to keep in the back of our minds that everyone does everything differently. Whether it is a dramatic difference‚ or barely
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General Anthropology Body Ritual Among the Nacirema ` In this article anthropologist‚ Horace Miner writes about the depiction of the North American group called the Nacirema‚ described by a Professor Linton in the early 1900s. The Nacirema people were characterised as being obsessed with rituals about the vanity of the human body. There is a description of a shrine with medicines and magical materials placed inside. A daily ritual that is described is “scraping and lacerating the surface of
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contrast ETHNOCENTRISM and CULTURAL RELATIVISM. Discuss how you have experienced OR witnessed both concepts in our American Society. Ethnocentrism is viewing your own culture as more superior than any other culture‚ that all other groups are measured in relation to one’s own. Ethnocentrism can lead to cultural misinterpretation and it often distorts communication between human beings. + while cultural relativism is "the concept that the importance of a particular cultural idea varies from one society
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“Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” Summary In the essay “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”‚ anthropologist Horace Miner depicts a group of people known as the “Nacirema”‚ but is referring to Americans‚ whose cultural beliefs are deeply rooted in the perspective that the human body is prune to sickness and disfiguration. Consequently‚ a substantial part of their lives is spent on unusual rituals and customs to improve conditions of the body that are filled with magical components. Moreover‚ Miner uses
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in writing this article was not to show the “Nacirema” as an example of how extreme human behavior can become‚ but how an outside perspective can affect your perception of an alien culture. If one were to look at the “Nacirema’s” cultural behaviors regarding physical appearance and health without any insight or knowledge of the specific beliefs or values of that culture‚ they might seem bizarre and even incomprehensible. By showing behaviors and “rituals” performed by this unknown tribe‚ Miner allowed
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The first thing I noticed about the article‚ Body Ritual Among the Nacirema by Horace Miner is that Nacirema is American spelled backwards. That caught my attention right away and I thought to myself how interesting. Then as I started reading further into the article‚ I realized that the Nacirema people are us. What I found most interesting about the Nacirema people is how obsessed and focused we are on our health and body. There is always a fad diet that guarantees amazing results or a new cross
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Nacirema When I read Body Rituals Among the Nacirema by Horace Miner the first time‚ I couldn’t imagine how a culture could behave this way and live their daily lives following these rituals. They believed that their bodies were ugly and its natural tendency was to debility and disease. They devoted much of their time trying to prevent these characteristics After observing the Nacirema customs‚ I found it to be crazy that they had shrines with a box or chest built into the wall full of magic
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