Cultural Relativism Essay

1038 Words5 Pages
Christian Ethics RELI 1301 Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics Cultural Relativism---“When in Rome, do as the Romans do” 1. What does Wilkens mean by the term ethically neutral? Give examples. What Wilkens means by the term ethically neutral is that by there being an increase of different customs, there is a blurred line between the different cultures on what is considered ethical. I think an example would be how some people celebrate different 2. Behavior (individual and cultural) changes from place to place and from time. Give examples. As the human race moves in the process of evolution and natural selection, so do their costume, behaviors and practices. Examples of these changes appear in practice/abolition of slavery, voting rights for women, cannibal practices by tribes in the other side of the world and many others. Each human being is different, and the combination of its uniqueness combined with the costumes or practices from his culture/environment will make those differences wider when comparing to other individual with a different life approach and culture. 3. What is the distinction between individual relativism and cultural relativism? Individual relativism is how a person behaves within the society, are his/her actions guided for “good” or “bad” cause; while cultural relativism relates more as how a group of individuals behave, what costumes share, and how do they react to the changes of living in the same environment (society). 4. So why "do as the Romans do" as opposed to doing whatever you want to do? What does Herskovits mean? It is not a matter of anarchy, otherwise is an issue of following the standard rules and costumes to blend in with the locals. “Man is the measure of all things”, therefore each culture/society may differ in practices or beliefs, and so is our option as the outsider to act in manners
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