Nathan Whittingham Professor Mariana Philosophy 120 12 October 2014 The Fallacy of Cultural Relativism The diversity of beliefs and ways of life is a conspicuous phenomenon that occurs within the human race. For example‚ what Satanists find right and reasonable is damnable to Christians‚ and vice-versa. Additionally‚ the ancient Aztecs practiced human sacrifice for reasons that today‚ we find totally illogical. And just as we‚ in America‚ now look back upon our history regarding slavery with
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Cultural Relativism: A Moral Fallacy Cultural Relativism is the theory that all belief’s are equally valid and that truth itself is relative‚ depending on the situation‚ environment and individual. Those who hold the belief of Cultural Relativist‚ hold that all beliefs are completely relative to the individual within a cultural identity. In this essay‚ I will show that cultural relativism is unreliable as an ethical theory by showing the irrationality of the arguments that support it. The
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The philosopher James Rachels has an argument that shows that the distinction between acts and omissions is not as helpful as it looks. Consider these two cases: •Smith will inherit a fortune if his 6 year old cousin dies. •One evening Smith sneaks into the bathroom where the child is having his bath and drowns the boy. •Smith then arranges the evidence so that it looks like an accident. •Jones will inherit a fortune if his 6 year old cousin dies. •One evening Jones sneaks into the bathroom where
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Assess Rachels’ critique of the main argument for normative cultural relativism (NCR)‚ i.e.‚ the Cultural Differences Argument. How might a proponent of NCR respond to Rachels critique? Is the response effective? Why or why not? 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
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Week 1 Anthropology Forum – Cultural Relativism Question: Using your textbook‚ please define cultural relativism and moral relativism‚ using APA formatting for your citations as needed. How is cultural relativism different from moral relativism? For example‚ consider anthropologists who study genocide or another oppressive‚ harmful phenomenon of your choice. Objectives examined: * Describe what is meant by ethnocentrism and cultural relativism * Interpret the ethical issues faced by anthropologists
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Is cultural relativism good for our society? Cultural relativism is a belief where there are no absolute moral views or beliefs can be apply to all cultures‚ which makes “right” and “wrong” different in every society; what is considered “right” in one society may be considered “wrong” in another. Since no universal standard of morality exists‚ no one has the right to judge another society’s customs. If this belief is held true‚ then every culture will have their own set of “rules” to live by
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Introduction Moral relativism is a moral or ethical proposition that does not reflect the objective and / or universal moral truths of the position‚ but rather requires the situation with respect to social‚ cultural‚ historical or personal circumstances. It does not deny the truth value or justification of moral statements (as a form of moral anti realism)‚ but it is certain of their relative form. A moral relativist pointed out that human beings are not omniscient‚ and history is full of personal
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Understanding other cultures without making judgments about the way they do things or the way they understand and react to things is the basic concept of cultural relativity. The importance of this idea is demostrated by Richard B. Lee in his story about the Christmas feast with the !Kung. In this story Lee‚ a social anthropologist living with the tribe‚ experiences a misunderstanding that almost caused him to pack his belongings and leave the bushmen which were the subject of his study
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A10691383 Cultural relativism promotes understanding and acceptance of differences. Throughout history‚ various conflicts could have been lessened or avoided by encouraging cultural relativism. People throughout the world are greatly influenced by the cultural and environment in which they are raised. Moral and ethical standards and behavioral practices vary across cultures. Cultural relativism is an appealing theory; it should be the goal in terms of promoting tolerance and peace. Reaching that
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other cultures and societies should be doing things the way that we do them. But‚ what if our cultural definition of what is right or wrong isn’t the case for another culture.? This paper will define cultural relativism‚ explain why it is important when studying other cultures‚ explain the difference between it and ethical relativism and explain if there are limits to cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the view that no society or culture is better than or superior to another culture when
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