Cultural relativism and ethical relativism
What is cultural relativism? What is ethical relativism? What, if any, is the relationship between the two?
Do people outside of a culture have the right to criticize that culture’s values or beliefs? Why or why not?
Think of a strong example of a cultural practice. For example, say another culture practices child marriages. What would a cultural relativist say about this? What would an ethical relativist say about it? Support your answer.
Sample Solution
Cultural relativism is an approach to understanding the values, beliefs, and norms of a society by looking at them from that culture’s point of view. This idea suggests that all cultures have their own sets of standards which must be respected and not judged through the lens of another culture as it could lead to misinterpretations or misunderstandings. It also emphasizes the importance of recognizing diversity across different societies while allowing for mutual respect among its members.
In contrast, ethical relativism is based on the premise that there are no universal moral truths since each individual or society has its own set of morals which may differ from others; this means that what is right in one context may be wrong in another depending on local cultural practices. Additionally, this perspective allows for individuals within a group to make decisions based on their own personal values as opposed to being restricted by external rules (Heron & Tovar , 2019).
The relationship between these two concepts lies mainly in how they both reject absolute forms of morality when trying to understand people’s behaviors across various contexts. Cultural relativism seeks to preserve unique customs found within certain societies while ethical relativism gives individuals more freedom when deciding how best to act within those constraints; both ultimately aim at improving our ability to engage with other cultures without imposing our own beliefs upon them while still striving towards positive outcomes.
