Cultural Relativism: Advantages and Disadvantages

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Cultural Relativism: Advantages and Disadvantages

Table of Contents

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Cultural relativism theory argues that a persons beliefs and actions are supposed to be judged depending on ones culture. They further state that bad and good are defined by a peoples culture. This means that what is regarded as ethical in a certain culture may be regarded as unethical by another culture. Since there are no specific ethical practices that are accepted by all, it follows then that no individual is supposed to judge other peoples traditions. For instance, human sacrifice is no right or wrong objectively. Somewhat, it is right in the culture that accepts it and wrong in the culture that condemns it. Cultural relativism is the belief that all cultures are equal in that no culture is greater than another in terms of issues like politics, law, and ethics. This theory argues that all cultural values are evenly legitimate. Moreover, they state that truth is relative concerning cultural background. Relativists also feel that every spiritual, moral, artistic, and political principle is totally relative to the person in a cultural individuality. (Alberta Education, 2007)

Main body

One advantage of cultural relativism is the idea of accepting other cultures and the way of life of other societies. This theory is practical when an individual is trying to fit in a different culture. Issues such as dressing and how to act are avoided and the individuals are accepted in the other society as they are without reservations. This is because relativism theory argues that the activities of another society are acceptable and other people should positively understand their actions since they are right to them. No other person has the right to state that what other people believe in is wrong. This theory gives the impression that one society should not try to impose its values or beliefs on another culture. In this way, cultural superiority is avoided as all people consider all cultures equal. Cultural relativism is suitable for different respects of our societies. For instance, things like food, clothing, and language differ with every society and their relative difference is important in every culture. (Waller, 2008)

The disadvantage of cultural relativism is that it does not give an opportunity to pass judgments even when errors are made. The issue of declaring that all practices are totally relative to the society that believes in them does not give room to judge when an issue is definitely going against human rights. For instance, cultural relativists would declare that the Nazi culture was right in the way they murdered millions of Jews simply because they believed it was right. To the cultural relativists, this is not good or bad, but merely a cultural difference similar to the American culture of shooting fireworks every Fourth of July. This shows that human life is not respected thus making cultural relativism illogical in the way it depicts issues. This is because this theory does not allow an outsider to assess another cultures way of life even if it is inhuman conditions. The theory does not accept the idea of common right and wrong in society. This denial of a common right or wrong does not fit well with many societies because they share certain values. For instance, many societies have a common belief that killing another person is wrong. (Waller, 2008)

Conclusion

Cultural relativism is a debate that has been in our societies for a long time. Cultural relativists feel that people in the world should learn to accept the practices of other societies without interfering in their actions. This has not been taken well by those opposed to cultural relativism since they feel that wrong and right should be universal. The idea of accepting cultural practices that break human rights is opposed by many in society. Cultural relativism does not allow other societies to judge the wrong in a certain culture and this has brought misunderstandings with other cultures. It is the choice of every person to determine what is wrong and what is right within society.

References

Alberta Education. (2007). Judging Cultural Practices. Web.

Waller, B. N. (2008). Consider Ethics: Theory, Readings, and Contemporary Issues (2nd Ed). New York: Pearson/Longman.

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