“Everything in this room is eatable, even I’m eatable. But that is called cannibalism, my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies.” –Willy Wonka
According to the Oxford Dictionary, cultural relativism is ‘the theory in which beliefs, customs, and morality exist in relation to the particular culture from which they originate and are not absolute.’
We all have feelings and that is what makes us human. But what makes us different from one another is the cultural differentiation, family values, our lives, what we went through and also the way we were brought up. No two persons are alike- they might be physically but definitely not emotionally. I believe the more universal an idea, the more absolute it gets. Having absolute feelings such as greed, pride and hate makes us as much of a human as empathy, love and curiosity does.
Civilization cannot be something absolute. All beliefs, norms, customs, morality are equal and right in their own place and to the people who abide and follow it.
In January 2002, when President Bush referred to the terrorist nations as an “axis of evil”, the cultural relativists were mortified- to hear that any society would call another “evil” is an anathema to the relativists.
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As a tourist, you can only visit Saudi if you have a business passport. Women tourists have to wear an abaya (a black dress similar to that of a burkha) even if she isnt a follower of the norms and culture of Islam, it’s a law. Explicit videos are banned there. Women citizens have to be covered in balck head to toe. Its tradition, and even if they want to they can’t change it. Tourists have to abide by the rules for ‘protection’ and also for respect to anothers country. Most of the male citizens there have never seen women wearing immodest clothes and if they do- it might lead to adverse
In its entirety, moral relativism is comprised of the belief that, as members of various and countless cultures, we cannot judge each other’s morality. If this theory stands true, then “we have no basis for judging other cultures or values,” according to Professor McCombs’ Ethics 2. Our moral theories cannot extend throughout cultures, as we do not all share similar values. For instance, the Catholic tradition believes in the sacrament of Reconciliation. This sacrament holds that confessing one’s sins to a priest and
Cultural Relativism is a moral theory which states that due to the vastly differing cultural norms held by people across the globe, morality cannot be judged objectively, and must instead be judged subjectively through the lense of an individuals own cultural norms. Because it is obvious that there are many different beliefs that are held by people around the world, cultural relativism can easily be seen as answer to the question of how to accurately and fairly judge the cultural morality of others, by not doing so at all. However Cultural Relativism is a lazy way to avoid the difficult task of evaluating one’s own values and weighing them against the values of other cultures. Many Cultural Relativist might abstain from making moral judgments about other cultures based on an assumed lack of understanding of other cultures, but I would argue that they do no favors to the cultures of others by assuming them to be so firmly ‘other’ that they would be unable to comprehend their moral decisions. Cultural Relativism as a moral theory fails to allow for critical thoughts on the nature of morality and encourages the stagnation
Cannibalism is a concept that is foreign to modern society despite its pertinence in recent human culture. In the essay “Cannibalism: It Still Exists,” Linh Ngo explains the concept of cannibalism, discussing in further detail and comparing and contrasting the different types of cannibalism and the situations in which it was utilized. By incorporating devices such as definition, illustration, and cause and effect, the essay was effective in relaying the idea that cannibalism is still around.
Christopher McCandless, a young American who was found dead in summer of 1992 in wild land in Alaska, wrote in his diary about his moral struggle regarding killing a moose for survival. According to Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Chris had to abandon most of the meat since he lacked the knowledge of how to dismantle and preserve it (166-168). Not only did he have a moral dilemma to kill a moose, but also had a deep regret that a life he had taken was wasted because of his own fault. He then started recognizing what he ate as a precious gift from the nature and called it “Holy Food” (Krakauer 168). Exploring relationships between human beings and other animals arouses many difficult questions: Which animals are humans allowed to eat and which ones are not? To which extent can humans govern other animals? For what purposes and on which principles can we kill other animals? Above all, what does it mean for humans to eat other animals? The answer may lie in its context. Since meat-eating has been included and remained in almost every food culture in the world throughout history and is more likely to increase in the future due to the mass production of meat, there is a very small chance for vegetarianism to become a mainstream food choice and it will remain that way.
Cultural relativism is a theory, which entails what a culture, believes is what is correct for that particular culture, each culture has different views on moral issues. For example, abortion is permissible by American culture and is tolerated by the majority of the culture. While, Catholic culture is against abortion, and is not tolerated by those who belong to the culture. Cultural relativism is a theory a lot of individuals obey when it comes to making moral decisions. What their culture believes is instilled over generations, and frequently has an enormous influence since their families with those cultural beliefs have raised them. With these beliefs, certain cultures have different answers for different moral dilemmas and at times, it is difficult to decide on a specific moral issue because the individual may belong to multiple
There has always been the saying that, food always tastes like Chicken, but would people from Turkey actually taste like turkey? Given the conditions of worldly issues such as: world hunger, poverty, over population, and animal cruelty, it only makes sense that a practice such as cannibalism should fit into society norms. The act of cannibalism could easily benefit us in many ways and is believed to have been happening since the pre-historic times. Cannibalism has been a way of the past and may be an insight into the future. All living organisms are programmed to do what they have to do to survive. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs includes breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, and excretion (simply psychology). Without these mankind would parish. Food is defined as " whatever supplies nourishment to organisms" (dictionary). By eating food one receives the nutrients necessary for sustenance and survival. The public does not know what goes into their food supply nor do they care. Why should it matter that it's human?
Civilization is the thing that keeps us in line. We have a system of checks and balances to make sure everyone behaves. If someone does something we believe to be morally wrong the person is punished. Take away civilization and society will go to ruin. People will revert back to their primal selves. Going on instinct and not intellect.
Environmental advocate and cofounder of Eatingliberally.org, Kerry Trueman, in her response to Stephen Budiansky’s Math Lessons for Locavores, titled, The Myth of the Rabid Locavore, originally published in the Huffington Post, addresses the topic of different ways of purchasing food and its impact on the world. In her response, she argues that Budiansky portrayal of the Local Food Movement is very inaccurate and that individuals should be more environmentally conscious. Trueman supports her claim first by using strong diction towards different aspects of Budinsky essay, second by emphasizes the extent to which his reasoning falls flat, and lastly by explaining her own point with the use of proper timing. More specifically, she criticizes many
After analyzing cultural relativism over the semester, I have come to the conclusion that cultural relativism under anthropological analysis defines every single culture with some aspect of worth as viewed by an individual within that society. Franz Boas, termed the “Father of American Anthropology”, first introduced the concept of cultural relativism. He wanted people to understand the way certain cultures conditioned people to interact with the world around them, which created a necessity to understand the culture being studied. In my words, cultural relativism is the concept that cultures should be viewed from the people among that culture. When studied by anthropologists, cultural relativism is employed to give all cultures an equal
This research paper will delve into the topic of cannibalism in native tribes of Brazil during the Portuguese colonization of the South American country. My research only the topic yielded very interesting results. Some scholars suggest that cannibalism (in the instances involving the Tupinamba tribe and their ritualistic practices) didn't even occur. This isn't to say, however, that cannibalism was completely nonexistent in Brazil, but arguing that it did not occur in the “savage” ways often described. I could easily sum up the accounts of various witnesses of cannibalism, but I will focus on the material that will mostly discuss the effect that cannibalism had on colonization in Brazil.
Culture Relativism; what is it? Culture Relativism states that we cannot absolute say what is right and what is wrong because it all depends in the society we live in. James Rachels however, does not believe that we cannot absolute know that there is no right and wrong for the mere reason that cultures are different. Rachels as well believes that “certain basic values are common to all cultures.” I agree with Rachels in that culture relativism cannot assure us that there is no knowledge of what is right or wrong. I believe that different cultures must know what is right and what is wrong to do. Cultures are said to be different but if we look at them closely we can actually find that they are not so much different from one’s own culture. Religion for example is a right given to us and that many cultures around the world practices. Of course there are different types of religion but they all are worshipped and practice among the different culture.
To understand the situation in Saudi Arabia better, you need to know about the social traditions and how people live. Saudis believe women are not supposed to reveal their bodies and only reveal their faces. That is because Islam says so. However, more and more teenagers in public, even in the highways, are harassing women which led to the establishment of the religious police. Religious police's role is simply to make sure no one harasses any woman and the roads stay safe.
In explaining Cultural Relativism, it is useful to compare and contrast it with Ethical Relativism. Cultural Relativism is a theory about morality focused on the concept that matters of custom and ethics are not universal in nature but rather are culture specific. Each culture evolves its own unique moral code, separate and apart from any other. Ethical Relativism is also a theory of morality with a view of ethics similarly engaged in understanding how morality comes to be culturally defined. However, the formulation is quite different in that from a wide range of human habits, individual opinions drive the culture toward distinguishing normal “good” habits from abnormal “bad” habits. The takeaway is that both theories share the guiding principle that morality is bounded by culture or society.
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two contrasting terms that are displayed by different people all over the world. Simply put, ethnocentrism is defined as “judging other groups from the perspective of one’s own cultural point of view.” Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is defined as “the view that all beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the situation, environment, and individual.” Each of these ideas has found its way into the minds of people worldwide. The difficult part is attempting to understand why an individual portrays one or the other. It is a question that anthropologists have been asking themselves for years.
The meager image depicted by Lu Xun's 'Diary of a Madman' projects an illustration of society that stresses submission to authority, and the ultimate compliance to tradition. Lu Xun battles the idea that society is constantly being manipulated and controlled by the masses of people who know no better than to follow tradition. His story 'Diary of a Madman' gives the representation of a culture that has not only failed, but failed by the cannibalistic nature of humans corrupting them-selves over and over again therefore feeding upon themselves. The analysis of 'Diary of a Madman' gives way to a new interpretation of societies of the past, present, and future. Following the idea that history tends to repeat itself, I have paralleled the idea that society as a whole can be seen as cannibalistic not only in the reference by Lu Xun, but also in the current society we live in today. Only through willingness to change can societies transform their behaviors and actions giving way to improvement.