Cultural Relativism: Ideas And Cultural Perspective By Franz Boas

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Recommended: Arguments against Cultural Relativism

“Civilization is not something absolute, but… relative…our ideas and conceptions are true only as far as our culture goes”-Franz Boas

• Question- Discuss the statement above. Do you agree? Illustrate your view with appropriate examples.

- The above statement conveys that people’s actions and behavior should be judged on the basis of their local culture and the values passed on to them rather than on an international or common scale of what is considered to be right or wrong as there cannot logically be a verdict on what is absolutely right or wrong in a world with so many unique cultures, ideas and practices.
-I am in agreement with this statement as I believe that it is not possible to judge/condemn the ideas and actions of cultures that
However, it is commonly debated that although cultural relativism aims to encourage a more open minded and liberal mindset-it actually does the opposite by undermining equality amongst people of different cultures by justifying their behavior as acceptable due to cultural differences. Hence, it is argued that although cultural relativism aims to promote better relations amongst people of different cultures and backgrounds, in the long run,it may actually do the opposite if
Awareness of other cultures with regards to their festivals, what is considered offensive, auspicious or godly by them is realized.
AGAINST: Deeper understanding of different cultures does not ensure harmony amongst different cultures and hence may actually lead to more problems than solutions as it might highlight the differences and conflicts of values or beliefs amongst different cultures hence causing inter-cultural fights and dislike.

-FOR: The concept of cultural relativism broadens the mind-it ensures that one is more accepting and liberal in their thought process which benefits not only them but the society as it is open to a whole set of practices that are considered acceptable.
AGAINST: -A society that accepts a notion that there is no absolute right or wrong in terms of culture will eventually lose the ability to make any fixed judgements at all, thus crumbling .Hence, it is very important to set some basic framework of what should be culturally accepted.

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