Ethnocentrism And Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is defined by our tendency to judge other groups or cultures based upon our own standards establishing

Ethnocentrism is defined as the tendency to judge other people and cultures by the standards of one’s own culture and to believe that the behavior, customs, norms, values and other characteristics of one’s own group are natural, valid, and correct while those of other’s are unnatural, invalid and incorrect. For example, in Funny in Farsi Firoozeh experiences ethnocentrism from citizens here

The findings of E.E. Evans-Pritchard serve as an example of the importance of ethnographic fieldwork and cultural relativism. People have an inherent tendency to drift towards ethnocentrism if they do not keep an open mind about the legitimacy of foreign cultural ideas. Enculturalization occurs from the very beginning of one’s life. When one grows up in a culture that praises traits that are deemed as beneficial and discourages behaviors that are seen as harmful, one tends to develop similar beliefs on these traits and behaviors. Different cultures encourage different outlooks on society. This is the result of the environment a culture exists in. In many tribal societies, one of the primary influences on culture is the physical environment. However, in technologically-advanced societies that worry less about satisfying needs and more about fulfilling desires, social aspects are perhaps more significant. For example, note the difference between American and Japanese culture. American culture promotes individualism and free speech. Many Americans tote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights

The first positive aspect of cultural relativism is the belief that there is no universal culture even though culture is universal (Chiariello, 2013). That each cultures has their own separate beliefs, tradition, values, and morals. That there is no one true or false way of living. That the rights and wrongs of one culture might not be the same for another culture. For example, in most third world countries children are forced into hard labor to provide for their families. Children in the United States might think that to be wrong and unethical but to those children in those countries this is what is needed of them and doesn’t see it to be wrong or unethical in any way. That difference doesn’t mean that one’s culture is superior or inferior to another’s culture. It means that as human we have to adapt to the surrounding in order to survive.

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to assume that ones own culture and way of life represents the norm or is superior to others. Americans in particular tend to be very ethnocentric in part because the United States has been perceived as a superpower for most of its existence, and in part because of the global influence of American media. Patriotism and love for ones country is also instilled in Americans from an early age to a greater extent then in other countries. For example, American children recite to the pledge of allegiance to begin each new school day and the national anthem is played at most sporting events.

Cultural relativism is a set of values and beliefs specific to a culture, these values are not universally accepted, but if the people in that culture believe it, and it works. (Brusseau, 2012) It differs from traditional ethics since actions deemed acceptable can be considered unethical universally, although, when incorporated

Different societies exist throughout the world and within these societies each society develops culture that works best for them. Within these cultures they pass all their acquired knowledge and traditions down from generation to generation. Nevertheless, each culture has their own way of life, own marriage beliefs, their own values and feelings on life and religious beliefs. Cultures tend to have their own way to run their government, and ways to keep their economy up to their standards. Most importantly in cultural anthropology it is imperative to value culture relativism. This is the view in which no culture is superior to other

While ethnocentrism involves viewing a culture through the lens of your own, cultural relativism involves viewing another culture from the lens of that culture.

Ethnocentrism:(late 15th century). Individuals judge other groups relative to their own based on langue behavior customs and religion. When the Spaniards came to the new worlds they saw that the natives were more advanced in agriculture. The natives also had a different customs and languages. Ethnocentrism, or the idea of it, placed natives in forced labor and segregated them based on their customs.

Schick and Vaughn (2010: 354) defines cultural relativism as follows “ is the doctrine that what makes an action right is that it’s approved by one’s culture “ in terms of cultural relativism what is good or right is determined by the majority in the society, when something is disapproved by the society it is regarded as wrong and the minority's who may thing something is wrong they do not have a say if the majority has ruled over the matter. Cultural relativism does not allow individuals to make their own decisions regarding wether they think something is right or wrong, it takes away their freedom to makes their own decisions about what works for them as individuals.

Cultural Relativism is an important ethical theory and James Rachels’ argument is significant to provide evidence to prove and disprove the idea. It is important to call attention to and understand differences between cultures. Tolerance is also an valid concept when arguing Cultural Relativism. Regardless of the outcome or viewpoint of the argument it is significant in the fact that it raises awareness for tolerance and differences between cultures and that no culture is more superior or more correct in relation to another. The theory of Cultural Relativism is the idea that each and every culture has it’s own moral code, and if this is true, there is no universal, ethical truth that every culture must abide by. A universal truth being one that is true in all situations, at all times, and in all places. It proposes that a person’s actions should be understood and judged only by those within the terms of their culture. It is an idea of tolerance and open mindedness to cultures who are not our own. In the article, The Challenge of Cultural Relativism, James Rachels discusses important themes and arguments in concurrence with his own argument against Cultural Relativism. I will argue that Cultural Relativism is challenged by James Rachels argument but not disproved.

We must first understand the two distinct theories regarding perception of outside cultures: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism. Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one's own culture.[1] The ethnocentric individual will judge other groups relative to his or her own particular ethnic group or culture, especially with concern to language, behavior, customs, and religion - these ethnic distinctions and subdivisions serve to define each ethnicity’s unique cultural identity.[2] The logical alternative to ethnocentrism is Cultural relativism, the practice of judging a

Being ethnocentric has its pros and cons. A pro would be that I can understand my own culture and how others relate to it from my own perspectives. I can be confident in my understanding and ethnocentrism benefits me when talking to other people who share my culture and can identify with any ethnocentric remarks I might make. However, when I am being ethnocentric I can ignore often important parts of other cultures and take them and their differences for granted because I am viewing them from only one perspective. People from other cultures might find me too engrossed in my own culture and surroundings and maybe unwilling to change or think about their cultures from their

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.

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