Cited: /b><br><li>Pojman, Louis P. Philosophy: The Quest for Truth. 3rd ed. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1996.
Cited: /b><br><li>Pojman, Louis P. Philosophy: The Quest for Truth. 3rd ed. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1996.
In this essay, I will discuss James Rachels’ article “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism”, in which he criticizes the normative cultural relativism argument which is about how different cultures have different moral codes, thus there is no single truth to define “truth” or a correct set of moral codes because the idea of right or wrong varies within cultures. Firstly I am going to explain what the cultural relativism argument is about and then present my assessment of Rachels’ critique regarding this argument from careful…
Ethical relativism is a concept in which most simple minded individuals adhere to. According to definition in the chapter, ethical relativism is the normative theory that what is right is what the culture or individual says is right. Shaw argues that it is not very plausible to say that ethical relativism is determined by what a person thinks is right and wrong. He gives reason that it “collapses the distinction between thinking something is right and it’s actually being right.” Ethical relativism may be justified occasionally. William H. Shaw examines ethical relativism by providing comprehensive examples on why relativism is a weak method in gaining morals.…
The article “Some Moral Minima” by Lenn Goodman states many good arguments that something’s should be seen as moral wrong. I agree with his beliefs that he is discussing throughout this article. All members of a group should not be punished for their cultural differences. In this paper I will share and support my opinions of the arguments discussed in the article by Lenn Goodman.…
ARE THERE UNIVERSAL MORAL REQUIREMENTS AND IS SOME MORALS UNIVERSALLY KNOWN AS WRONG? CHALLENGES TO RELATIVISM…
Due to human limitations – shortage in experiencing variety of human situation, human egocentrism, and human fallibility - moral thoughts and action may differ from one individual to another even from the same culture. In the second part of the article, the author wanted to clarify an important concept which is that there is no perfect culture. Each culture has its own strengths and weakness in different aspects of life. That does not mean that a certain culture is superior to other cultures since humans are morally equal.…
Many people are lead to adopt Ethical Relativism because they believe that it justifies their view that one ought to be tolerant of the different behavior of people in other cultures. However, Ethical Relativism does not really justify tolerance at all. All around the world, there are different types of cultures, which have different ethical values that will be correct according to their cultures. Nevertheless, some people might argue about different cultures that have different moral codes that they can not accept; examples: polygamy and infanticide. On the other hand, Ethical Relativism proposes that we can stop the criticism and be more tolerant with other cultures. To illustrate, we could no longer say that custom of other societies…
Cultural relativism, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. “Is the thesis that a person’s culture strongly influences her modes of perception and thought” Most cultural relativists add to this definition saying that there is no standard of morality. This means that morality is relative to the particular society that one lives in. Prominent ethicist James Rachels has written against this view in his work titled The Challenge of Cultural Relativism. This paper will be focused on evaluating Rachels’ critique of cultural relativism, and whether it was right for him to endorse objective moral realism. Rachels defines this as “a standard that might be reasonably used in thinking about any social practice whatever. We may ask whether the practice promotes or hinders the welfare of people whose lives are affected by it.” That is the moral worth of an action is based upon how it contributes to the society from which it operates in.…
This world is the abundant soil in which we plant our roots, but the quality and quantity of our growth often falls upon the virtues instilled by our environment. We exist in a society that blossoms with morals based on politics, geography, religion, and countless other variables. In such a society, it is virtually impossible for an entire world to agree on a set of morals to abide by, and therefore our world is saturated with the ideals of moral relativism, whether or not we see it blatantly. Moral relativism is often given the stigma of sprouting impurity or immorality, given the fact that it does not accept that there is a universal moral codex.…
Perry, John, Michael Bratman, and John M. Fischer, eds. Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Reading. 6th ed. Oxford University Press, Print.…
Philosophy Fifth Edition. John Perry, Michael Bratman, John Martin Fischer. Oxford University Press. 2010. )…
This premise of cultural relativism shows prefigure of moral relativism. Moral relativism can be generally grouped into three categories; (1) descriptive moral relativism, (2) normative moral relativism, and (3) meta-ethical moral relativism. Descriptive relativism, according to Frankena, is the idea ‘that the basic ethical beliefs of different people and societies are different and even conflicting’ [1973:109]. The second form of ethical relativism conceives the idea that ‘what is really right or good in the one case is not so in another. Such a normative principle seems to violate the requirements of consistency and universalization’[1973:109]. The last among the three reveals that ‘there is no objectively valid, rational way of justifying one against another; consequently, two conflicting basic…
- Cultural Relativism seems intuitively true, but be aware that disagreement does not entail that there is not a correct answer to moral questions (p. 26-27)…
The idea of right and wrong varies from culture to culture. The five tenets of cultural relativism going to depth defining moral codes. Complications and moral questions arise when one culture begins harming another—Nazi genocide, war, imperialism, etc. Geographic boundaries blur in our technologically advanced, globalized world. The most daunting logical challenge presented by cultural relativism is it hinders a society from judging the codes or values of another society and even our own (Lecture 1).…
Cultural differences are evident throughout all societies through religious beliefs, traditions or lifestyle choices. The International Bill of rights therefore cannot be applied to all cultures due to its opposing ideologies, however the most basic level of human rights are found necessary in order to protect human life. Evidently, cultural relativism restricts judgement of alternative cultural practices. As a result, cultural differences must be tolerated and a universal body has no right to determine what is right and wrong in a society. Through specific cultures, cultural traditions are highlighted, many that appear to violate basic human rights. As a result of these alternate rights and practices differ it is difficult of establish a universal set of rights that observes the unique beliefs and ideologies of minorities around the world.…
As we enter into a new world of technology our culture and moral values are simultaneously fading away with every new invention. We seem to be forgetting the important things in life. Reading the works of William Wordsworth and other poetic authors, some people may start to see how men and women cherished life and nature at one point in time. Today, we look at nature as if it is meant to be slaves for our needs in order to provide us with food, water, and air. Nature provides for us and we treat this beautiful gift as a slave that works to satisfy our needs, not taking care of our gift, forgetting to cherish every thing that nature has given to the human race. People forget that nature was given to us as a masterpiece of strength and power through God. Man’s ability to strive for more in life seems to destroy his vision of what he must base his values of life on as a Christian human being. The subject of “industrial organization” applies the economist’s models of price theory to the industries in the world around us (Caves 15). Industrialization is a great discovery that helped revolutionize the life of people at a very rapid pace. It seems that ever since man became intelligent enough to create easy ways of life, his cultural values of family, work, and life have become a task for machines. Instead of overtaking our ideas and inventions, controlling them, and molding them into our own way of life, we allow industrialization of new technology to pave the way of life we live. In this essay we will be discussing the process of industrialization, explaining the effects it has had on culture and moral values in the time of our ancestors, as apart from the culture and moral values of today’s society.…