Cultural Relativism

Cultural Relativism

  • Definition:

    • Moral rules and values come from a culture's specific customs.

  • Key Concepts:

    • Similar to how individuals have their own moral views (Subjectivism), but here it's about what a whole culture believes.

    • Instead of personal feelings, the culture's accepted ways are the basis for right and wrong.

    • It agrees that moral rules exist but says there are no moral rules that apply to everyone everywhere.

    • Moral rules only apply to people within that specific culture.

Moral Evaluation

  • Evaluating Practices:

    • You can judge actions within your own culture.

    • You cannot judge actions from other cultures.

    • You also cannot criticize past cultures from today's perspective.

  • Ethical Reasoning:

    • What a culture considers right sets the foundation for ethical arguments.

Ruth Benedict

  • Role:

    • Was one of the first people to strongly support Cultural Relativism (in 1934).

  • Context:

    • She argued against the idea that some cultures are naturally better or have the right to colonize others, emphasizing that all cultures are valid.

  • Implications:

    • She went too far in saying there are absolutely no moral rules that apply to all people.

Impacts of Cultural Relativism

  • Cross-Cultural Criticism:

    • It doesn't allow for fair judgment of other cultures, making it hard to honestly say if something is wrong.

    • It views social reform (trying to change society for the better) as wrong, which goes against the idea of people trying to improve things.

Moral Community

  • Definition:

    • A group of beings that are morally important.

  • Categories:

    • Persons: Have full moral rights and importance.

    • Sub-Persons: Have less moral standing.

    • Outcasts: People who are rejected but still held responsible for their actions.

    • Non-Persons: Have no moral importance.

  • Moral Status:

    • Refers to how much inherent worth and respect something deserves, which can vary.

Banality of Evil

  • Concept:

    • A term by Hannah Arendt, describing how bad actions become normal and accepted in everyday life.

  • Mechanisms:

    • When people simply go along with cultural practices, making it easier to do or justify immoral things.

Critiques of Cultural Relativism

  • Common Criticisms:

    • It focuses too much on small differences between cultures and then incorrectly claims that there are no universal moral truths because of these differences.

    • It doesn't look for other, deeper reasons why cultures might be different.

  • Pluralism Issues:

    • It doesn't work well in societies where people belong to many different cultures or disagree within their own culture about what's right.

    • The idea of what counts as a “culture” is unclear, so it doesn't offer clear moral guidance.