Challenge of Cultural Relativism

Wade Davis, a famous anthropologist, writer, explorer, and other professions, stated “The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.” The quote means that because a person is not like you or your culture does not make them inferior. It makes them unique in their own way. On the other side of the spectrum is David Eller who stated “Insularity is the foundation of ethnocentrism and intolerance; when you only know of those like yourself, it is easy to imagine that you are alone in the world or alone in being good and right in the world. Exposure to diversity, on the contrary, is the basis for relativism and tolerance; when

Our day to day lives can typically involve umpteen interactions with individuals from across the life span whose identity comprises multiple layers. Culture can often be a significant element of identity; thus practicing cultural safety, which can be viewed as an environment where individuals’ cultural identities, rights, and experiences are not challenged or denied, rather they are respected and understood (Williams, 1999), within interactions is essential. Cultural awareness, sensitivity, and competence are intertwined in cultural safety, and a principle step in developing and understanding these concepts is examining our own cultural identities and how they shape our worldviews and attitudes. In this paper, I will reflect on my own cultural

In “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism”, James Rachels presents six claims that have been made by cultural relativists. One of the six claims that Rachels presents in section 2.2 of the article is that different societies have different moral codes. I believe that Rachels thinks this claim is true. Section 2.1 of the article does a good job at explaining this idea. In this section, Rachels gives several examples of the differences that can be found in moral codes of different people groups throughout time. One of the specific examples he mentions is the different burial rituals of the Greeks and the Callatians. The Greeks perform a ritual that includes burning the dead. The Callatian ritual consists of eating the dead. The Greeks and Callatians, while encountering each other, both stated that the other’s ritual was inhumane. This disagreement, according to Cultural Relativism, is okay and to be expected because the two moral codes come from two drastically different societies. A modern example of this claim is that up until recently in China, small feet were praised and larger feet were frowned upon for women. Radical efforts to prevent women’s feet from growing included foot-binding. This method of prevention caused women to constantly be in pain. Women’s foot size in the United States isn’t emphasized like the way it used to be in China. Therefore, citizens of the United States believe that Chinese foot-binding was a barbaric method, while people in China would think

Ethnocentrism is a tendency to use our own group’s ways of doing things as a yardstick for judging others (Pg. 40, Ch. 2). Cultural Relativism is understanding a culture on its own terms (Pg. 41, Ch.2). The concept I favor is Cultural Relativism because people should be able to understand and recognize a different culture’s background. It is evident that everyone has different ways to go about life/culture. Coming from another country and knowing two different cultures, helps me understand two different perspectives. I am not a type of person who will judge or believe my way of life/culture is the correct one. Everyone is different, live differently, and think differently. Therefore, Cultural Relativism makes sense to appreciate more because it allows a person to understand where different cultures are coming from. When you think about it, cultural relativism is quite hard to

Moral and values is some of the things we learn as we grow up and these morals and values we learn from our parents and friends and also from our cultures and some of them you get to develop them as you grow up. The is so many ways to develop ones morals and values and cultural relativism and ethical subjectivism is of those ways that are used to develop morals and values.

Destiny Weeks Writing Assignment 2 Part 1 Cultural relativism is assimilating one’s thoughts and perspective to that of another culture. This allows an individual to see the importance of everyday habits, customs, values, norms, and mores. Without cultural relativism on may not understand the importance in Japanese culture of taking your shoes off before you enter the house or proper ways of dressing in a Kimono. I f an individual does not use cultural relativism they risk breaking formal and informal norms, which could result in negative sanctions for that individual.

Cultural relativism is the theory where there is no objective truth in morality, and moral truths are determined by different cultures. The primary argument used to justify cultural relativism is the cultural differences argument, which claims different cultures have different moral practices and beliefs, therefore, there is no objective truth in morality (Newton). After reading James Rachels The Challenge of Cultural Relativism, I find his criticisms to be persuasive because the argument made for Cultural Relativism is not sound from a logical point of view. You cannot draw a conclusion about what is factual based on what people believe is factual. Rachels also points out that even though cultures do in fact disagree about moral values,

Cultural relativism is the way society separates right from wrong within a culture. What we describe as “good” and “bad” is based off of our cultural beliefs. Cultural relativism argues that no culture is better than any other and all their beliefs are equally valid. The way that modern society is has made it possible for almost everything to be justified.

Throughout the ages, free speech has been the instrument of revolutions, uprisings, social change, and progress. It is these qualities, which have made free speech an antagonist of the status quo. Morality is the study of what is right and what is wrong. So whatever action you do is either correct or not correct. Is it morally right to speak your mind? Well, free speech is a moral right; everyone has a right to express how he or she feels. That is our first amendment, Freedom of Speech and or expression. People are allowed to express themselves, but at times if someone does speak their mind there will be consequences. Like in some of the cases that are going to be mentioned below.

Cultural relativism is the way society separates right from wrong within a culture. What we describe as “good” and “bad” is based off of our cultural beliefs. No culture is better than any other and all their beliefs are equally valid. The way that modern society is has made it possible for almost everything to be justified.

The quality of being true is related to something clear, without any uncertainty. This is perfectly summarized by the Greek word for truth is ἀλήθεια (alétheia), from the privative prefix ἀ- (a-), meaning 'not', and -λήθε (-lethe), 'oblivion', which, as Martin Heidegger (2001) explained by analysing its etymology, refers to "the state of not being hidden". Truth is a cross issue, that embraces everything related to humans, from the most ordinary aspect of daily life, to the most deep religious thought. The need to find what is true is part of the human nature, but as the German philosopher Edmund Husserl (1965) stated, that same nature, which gave us the need of knowledge, at the same time bound us to subjectivity, limiting our understanding to judgement and interpretation, thus, truth can only be obtained gradually, through a never ending task. This process of understanding finds its ancient roots in Greece, in the VII-VI century B.C., when philosophy was born and the slow loss of universal certainties has started. The very first interest of philosophers was that to define the concept of Being, a wide notion that embraces objective and subjective features of reality. Throughout the philosophy of truth, objectivism and subjectivism lead to the development of the two major approaches to reality, Relativism and Universalism.

Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two contrasting terms that are displayed by different people all over the world. Simply put, ethnocentrism is defined as “judging other groups from the perspective of one’s own cultural point of view.” Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is defined as “the view that all beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the situation, environment, and individual.” Each of these ideas has found its way into the minds of people worldwide. The difficult part is attempting to understand why an individual portrays one or the other. It is a question that anthropologists have been asking themselves for years.

Cultural relativism is one of the core concepts of anthropology. Are there any limits to this concept? If so, what are they? Is there a place in anthropology for the idea of universal human rights?

If we look at the world today, there are millions of cultures centered everywhere. With this much cultures in the world, everyone is bound to believe that they’re all different. Even though they are different in some aspects, all of them are similar to each other in some way. So if this is the case, do we as human beings have the right to judge these cultures as ethically wrong or just a cultural difference? Cultural Relativism is the belief that we cannot judge the cultural practices of other societies and that we should let them do as they please. But if we cannot judge them, does it make it right when they threaten the lives of others? Through the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, we begin to have a deeper insight this idea of

Different societies have different moral codes. Cultural relativism claims that ethics is relative to individuals, groups, cultures and societies. Relativism resists universal moral normal. The moral code of society determines what is right or wrong in that society. There’s no objective standard that can be used to judge one’s society code against another. Its arrogant to judge others cultures. We should always be tolerant of them. Cultural relativism for many people is a response to the complexity of moral issues and the number of different responses various. Groups our cultures have given to moral issues so for many when we look at just how different cultures have responded two different issues the way different cultures. All this diversity that there seems to be a response where we want to say well, maybe there isn 't some sort of absolute right or wrong maybe morality really is just relative to a different group that different people believe different things. In this paper, I will discuss the aspect of my culture from an outside perspective and discuss another culture from an inside perspective. In sociology, the principle is sometimes practiced to avoid cultural bias in research, as well as to avoid judging another culture by the standards of one 's own culture. For this reason, cultural relativism has been considered an attempt to avoid ethnocentrism. Cultural relativism is related to but often distinguished from moral relativism, the view that morality is relative to