Cultural Ethical Relativism

Cultural ethical relativism(CER) is a topic that many people all around the world might think about, but sometimes aren't aware of consciously. Questions like, “Is this the right way to do something compared to another group?” or possibly a question such as, “..is there an objective truth on right or wrong?”, can all fall into the category presented by the idea of cultural ethical relativism, and its corresponding supporting arguments. As summarized by Rachel, cultural relativism is, “..that there is no such thing as universal truth in ethics; there are only the various cultural codes, and nothing more.” which he carries on to say that it “challenges our beliefs”. Although Rachel seems to be ignorant on the broad spectrum of the importance

The argument in simple terms is that, different cultures have different moral codes so therefore, there is no objective truth in morality, with the premise being that different cultures have different moral codes, and the conclusion being: there is no objective truth in morality. Breaking it down even further, we see the five claims in which cultural relativist say, which is corresponding to the conclusion and premise being that: different societies have different moral codes, the moral code of a society determines what is right within that society, there is no objective standard that can be used to judge one society’s code as better than another’s, the moral code of our own society has no special status; it is one among many, and that it is arrogant to judge other cultures, we should tolerate

As stated before, the premise was that different cultures have different moral codes. This is true, and can be seen within different regions, a single country, or even within two cities. Take the example of “Western” culture which usually contains Christian countries and other Abrahamic religions versus that of “Eastern” culture which contains that of Hinduism, Buddhism and etc. Both have ethical values on topics such as conflict, harmony, and many other things but they are different. In western culture, the view on conflict and harmony is that, good must triumph over evil whereas the eastern culture’s aspect is that there is good and bad, where there is a balance of both, being representative by light for good and dark for bad. With that being said, the reason why it is different is because of the basis of the concepts which the people in that region was brought up upon and the different events in which each region experienced. As stated by Rachel, “Cultural relativism holds that the norms of a culture reign supreme within the bounds of the culture itself.” meaning that the influence in which the culture has is only in the areas that the people actively believe in the