The idea of Cultural Relativism, as stated above, is appealing and a good scapegoat for the idea of what is moral. Based off of each individual society, certain acts are considered good while others are considered evil. If one abnormal travels to another culture, they could be considered moral.

It is a concept that cultural norms and values derive their meaning within a specific social context. The concept of cultural relativism also means that any opinion on ethics is subject to the perspective of each person within their particular culture. Overall, there is no right or wrong ethical system.

Pros & Cons of Cultural Relativism. The advantages of cultural relativism is that it is a very tolerant view and fits well with how cultures change, since cultures are constantly developing as our world continues to develop.

cultural evolutionism most notably the concept of cultural relativism, a theory of culture change or acculturation, and an emphasis on the study of symbolic meaning.

In concluding, the consequences of encouraging cultural relativism can be summarised quite succinctly here: the reinforcement of cultural relativism may forge cohesive cultures, which may initially seem to be benign, but this may be accompanied by discouraging the understanding of other cultures.

Why is cultural relativism self-contradictory? Because it is a culture of itself where individuals who enact outside of its own culture are effectively “wrong,” except that can’t be the case because the culture has to accept what the outside culture holds to be true because it’s different.

Cultural Relativism Essay Cultural Relativism is the view that all moral beliefs and ethical systems, are all equally valid. Instead, they believe each society has customs and beliefs that differ from each other and every judgement of right or wrong is a product of each society.

The problem with individual moral relativism is that it lacks a concept of guiding principles of right or wrong. “One of the points of morality is to guide our lives, tell us what to do, what to desire, what to object to, what character qualities to develop and which ones not to develop,” said Jensen.

Ethical relativism reminds us that different societies have different moral beliefs and that our beliefs are deeply influenced by culture. It also encourages us to explore the reasons underlying beliefs that differ from our own, while challenging us to examine our reasons for the beliefs and values we hold.

Opponents of moral relativism often argue that there is a universal morality, a code of right and wrong that unites all of existence. They also claim that moral relativism allows for actions that are immoral, like slavery or genocide, simply by framing them as a cultural value.

Edward Westermarck

An early dissent came from the sociologist William Graham Sumner, who proposed a version of moral relativism in his 1906 Folkways. But the most influential challenge originated with the anthropologist Franz Boas.

Moral Truth — The Correspondence Theory of Truth. A statement is true when it corresponds with reality. In other words, a statement is true if it matches up with the way the world really is.

In his famous publications of Beyond Good and Evil (1886) and On the Genealogy of Morals (1887), Nietzsche argues intensively and effectively about morality, his thought undoubtedly has a pronounced relativistic tendencies.

Nietzsche and egoism His thought has similarly been linked to forms of both descriptive and normative egoism. Nietzsche, in attacking the widely held moral abhorrence for egoistic action, seeks to free higher human beings from their belief that this morality is good for them.