Morality is Culturally Relative
Uploaded by Admin on Nov 16, 1999
Within this world that we live on, there is an enormous amount of people. Each of these people belongs to different cultures and societies. Every society has traits and customs that make it unique. These societies follow different moral codes. This means that they will may have different answers to the moral questions asked by our own society. What I am trying to say is that every society has a different way of analyzing and dealing with life's events, because of their cultural beliefs. This is claim is known as Cultural Relativism. Cultural Relativism is the correct view of ethics.
1. Different societies have different moral codes.
2. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societal code better than another.
3. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merely one among many.
4. There is no "universal truth" in ethics-that is, there are no moral truths that hold for all peoples at all times.
5. The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society; that is, if the moral code of a society says that a certain action is right, then that action is right, at least within that society.
6. It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures(Pojman,1996,p.360).
Above are six claims that help explain the notion of Cultural Relativism. This essays arguments will help to illustrate them directly and indirectly. It will be clear that the true answer to the question of ethics is, Cultural Relativism. The definitions listed are words used through out the paper and can be used as a reference.
Cultural Absolutism- Holds there is exactly one right answer to every "What I should do in situation X?".
Cultural Relativism- "Views moral validity in terms of social acceptance"
Society- Organized or interdependent community
Ethics- set of moral principals
Morality- degree of conformity to moral principals; moral conduct; science of morals
Values- desirability, or qualities on which these depend; one's principals, priorities, or standards.
The subject of murder is probably the most common issue thought to be a moral absolute. What I mean is, people think it is wrong to kill another human being. This is not always the case; murder has its place in many cultures. In Rachels article, the Eskimos practice infanticide as well as the killing of elders. The elders are too...