James Rachels’ on Normative Cultural Relativism Every culture has its own customs, traditions and beliefs that dictate the actions of its citizens. Cultural relativism states that although practices and ethical beliefs differ from society to society, it must be accepted as good, relative to each respective culture’s beliefs and moral code. Rachels believes that an act that may be frowned upon in one culture may in fact be totally acceptable in another. The theory of Cultural Relativism puts in action the idea of what people believe is morally right and how it relates to the culture that it is practiced in. Morals concern what is right and wrong.
Cultural Relativism, a term used to describe individual’s beliefs that should be accepted in one’s cultural but also can be denied in society. In James Rachels’ essay, “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism”, she brings up varies examples that contradicts with one society’s beliefs to another society. She uses this term and analyzes it different situations proving that it can be controversial at times since no one should have the same thinking process as another person. For example, if you were to take to civilizations of the past and tell them to trade beliefs. They would find it outrages since it would be unorthodox to their teachings.
Perhaps more so than Emotivists, Prescriptivists see ethical language as fairly meaningful. They believe that the terms used are able to create absolute rules that everyone ought to follow. It would seem that ethical language is seen by many as very meaningful, although for varying reasons. However agent centred theories such as Virtue Ethics would argue that our main focus of morality should be on becoming as virtuous as possible, rather than deciding what is meant by ethical language. Therefore it would seem that perhaps morality should be more focussed on individuals’ actions rather then defining what is meant by ‘good’ and
Although they don’t condone the procedure, they prefer to hope for change from within. Other anthropologists point out that, although cultural relativism may help us understand a culture on its own terms, it can also help us understand how cultural beliefs reinforce inequalities by convincing people to accept practices that may be harmful and demeaning as natural. In
Relativism is the idea that one’s beliefs and values are understood of one’s society culture or even one’s own individual values (Mosser, 2010). With that being said everyday a person from a culture conducts some kind of moral choice. That moral choice that he or she chooses may be viewed as right or wrong by other cultures. In the article, “Some Moral Minima” by Lenn E. Goodman there are views of four different aspects of morality and relativism and Goodman argues that certain things are just wrong. I will explore the challenges Goodman presents to relativism and provide my own thoughts on such universal moral requirements.
It varies because of mood and behavioral influences. If one is in a bad mood they will typically communicate negatively and without thinking about the affects it may have on someone else. Regardless of how we communicate we need to realize that all communication is cultural. In essence, it portrays ways we have learned to speak and send nonverbal messages. Not only are there different principles and contexts to consider, but there are also cultural barriers.
An Interpretation Of Morals Morality, in a simplified definition, is conformity to the rules of right conduct. Why then, do humans differ and struggle on acting upon and defining different morals? And why does it seem nearly impossible to find where morals came from? Well in Steven Pinker’s writing of “The Morality Instinct,” he shares with the audience that morality has developed into a sixth sense and that this sense of morality greatly affects the way us as humans make decisions. More importantly however, are auxiliary sources that further extended the arguments that Pinker makes throughout the rhetoric.
It varies from place to place. Humans are humans, and so we should view things the same. But there are outside influences in cultures that make us see the discussed views differently. There is no truth in defining what is just and unjust but we are persuaded by believing what is in our morals by following the evidence, logic and reasoning behind each argument made. The author says “and one ought to bring up the question whether it is those who are sane or those who are demented who speak at the right moment”.
Relativism and Morality Barbara Johnson SOC 120: Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility Safiyyah Al-Amin June, 11, 2012 In the article “Some Moral Minima,” Lenn Goodman argues that there are certain things that are simply wrong. Yes, I do think that Goodman is right about most of the arguments. “People identify themselves in many different ways: through their ethnicity, race, country of origin, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, among many others” (Mosser, 2010, What role does conscious play). Relativism is the observation that one's values are accustomed by one's culture, society, and/or community. Rejecting total claims, all statements must be assessed in terms of the perspective
Some people use scapegoats to escape fear. Lastly, people use scapegoats because they may have low self-esteem. They may need to feel better about themselves because of certain problems that can occur. Societies use scapegoats for a variety of reasons, but it all comes down to the manner in which