Cultural relativism

In Mary Midgley's Trying Out One's New Sword, she explains that moral isolationism "Consists in simply denying that we can never understand any culture except our own well enough to make judgments about it. Midgley argues that not only is moral isolationism incorrect, it is logically incoherent. She explains that the people who take up this idea of moral isolationism think that it is being respectful to other cultures and societies but you cannot claim to be respectful to something that is…

Michel Montaigne was a respected philosopher during the French Renaissance. His popular essay "Of Cannibals" focuses on the cannibalistic practices of a tribe located in Brazil. He uses his story to portray the cultural differences between the Brazilian tribe and Europe and questions what should truly be considered barbaric. After his interaction with the tribe, I believe he would have a unique perspective of the Mayan ball game that would differ from most Europeans who believed they were…

short excerpt from Ima, is that there are no objective truths about right or wrong. She says that when we claim there is one, we are just enforcing our culturally taught attitudes as they objective truth. James Rachels would disprove what Ima, the cultural relativist is claiming by this argument by saying that the conclusion of this theory doesn't follow from its argument. As previously mentioned, the argument is that different cultures have different moral codes, and because of this there is no…

CULTURAL MORAL RELATIVISM Many people claim to be cultural moral relativists without understanding the full breadth, depth and scope of it. In this essay you will discover exactly what cultural moral relativism is and I will present a couple of arguments against it to let you decide if you really are a cultural moral relativist. The attitudes and beliefs behind cultural moral relativism are widely accepted by those who don’t fully understand what it is. If you wonder if abortion is right or…

I believe Cultural Relativism is the act of observing the beliefs, values, and practices of a culture from a viewpoint from the inside, and taking that information and relating it back to your own culture. Anthropologist use culture relativism to compare and contrast cultures, and to keep the belief that all cultures are worthy in their own ways and are all of equal value. It is important that cultures study each other through the works of anthropology so that we can ensure cultural equivalence…

84-87). 3. Cultural relativism is the theory that each culture…

In James Rachel’s book, The Elements of Moral Philosophy Rachel argues that there are some major problems with the logic that Cultural Relativism is based on. In this paper I am going to argue against Moral Disagreement in which I will merge Cultural Relativism with subjectivism. CR states that the view rightness/wrongness and goodness/badness are culturally determined. What the majority of one’s culture decides is right or wrong. With that definition I would be sure this is true, but some…

practices. When studying other cultures researchers have to keep cultural relativism as a priority. Cultural relativism is an important idea that all scholars use. In anthropology, it is used when researchers look at different groups of people like the Yanomamo. When Napoleon Chagnon went and studied one of the most violent group he could not judge their traditions, customs or religious believes with his modern views. Cultural relativism does not only affect culture and different times, but also…

In anthropology, there is a concept called Cultural Relativism. This idea is that you cannot judge another culture based on your experiences within your own culture. Meaning that just because something is bad in your culture it may be the norm in another. That concept is very important when you are studying another culture. It helps prevent bad or unfair judgments from forming. An example of this could be if you are working in an area where they eat dogs. As an American who views dogs as pets,…

Stepheny Saavedra Anthropology 340 Dec. 1, 2016 “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” is one of the many cases that exemplify the barriers and obstacles people from distinct cultures encounter due to their ethnocentrism and lack of cultural relativism. After escaping to the U.S., a place completely different from what they called home, the Lees had to adapt and place their trust on strangers (to save their daughter) who viewed a condition with spiritual origin to the Hmong as a…