Lesson 5 CULTURAL RELATIVISM

Lesson Outcomes:

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to;

 Recognize differences in moral behavior of different cultures

 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of cultural relativism

Lesson Content

Why can’t all cultural practices be always correct?

The world is wide and huge. Part of what makes the world interesting is that it is home to
different groups of people who have developed their own unique outlook on how to survive and
thrive. These differences led people to view life differently and live completely different
lifestyles. German-American anthropologist Franz Boaz first articulated this in 1887,
“civilization is not something absolute, but is relative and our ideas and conceptions are true only
so far as our civilization goes.” However, the first to use the term “cultural relativism” was
philosopher and social theorist Alain Locke in 1924. Cultural relativism explains why one
behaviour or practice is completely acceptable by a particular group of people, while it is taboo
in another. It refers to the idea that values, knowledge, and behaviour of people must be
understood within its own cultural context, and not by the standards of other cultures. Hence, all
moral and ethical standards (or the judgement of what is right or wrong) are valid and there is not
“one standard that is “better” among all others.

Philosopher and university professor Dr. James Rachels (1941-2003), in his book
Elements of Moral Philosophy, laid out five claims of cultural relativist as to why right or wrong
is only a matter of cultural standards. These claims are:

1. Different societies have different moral codes.

2. The moral code of society determines what is right or wrong. There is no objective
standard considered better than others.
3. There are no universal moral truths
4. The moral code of a particular society has no special status. It is but one among many.
5. It is arrogant for one culture to judge another culture. There should be tolerance among
others.

The Advantages and Dangers of Cultural Relativism

Rachels identified two positive lessons we can learn from cultural relativism
 1. It warns us from assuming that our preferences are the absolute rational standard.
2. It teaches us to keep an open mind and to be more amenable in discovering the truth.

Many of our practices are relevant only to our particular community. This implies our
moral views are a reflection of our society’s prejudices. Cultural relativism makes us understand
that what we think as truth may actually be just the result of cultural conditioning.

On the other hand, the dangers of cultural relativism are:

1. We cannot call out societal practices that promote harm.

If cultural relativism is true, then we should not condemn what Hitler and the Nazis did
against the Jews, Apartheid in South Africa, or any form of maltreatment, damage, injury,
or destruction that one community inflicts upon anyone or anything.
2. We cannot justifiably criticize our own culture’s harmful practices.
This implies that to decide whether your action is right or wrong all you need to do is
check whether your action is in accordance with the standards of your society. If your
actions are in line with your culture, then you have done nothing wrong—even though
your actions were harmful. After all, if it is true that you cannot criticize other cultures,
then all the more can you not criticize your own culture since people in your group accept
it as a way of life. For example, if cultural relativism is to be followed then 2016 Metro
Manila Film Fest officials did not have the right to take back the Fernando Poe Jr.
Memorial award granted to the film “Oro” where a dog was really slaughtered in the
movie because dogs as “pulutan” is part of an issue.
3. The idea of social progress becomes doubtful.
Progress means replacing something old with something better. However, if cultural
relativism is to be followed, by what standards do we say that a society has become
better? The idea of social reform is now eradicated others because we are prohibited from
judging one society as better over. For example, Spanish colonial era was in effect a
different society than modern Philippines. Hence, we cannot say that Filipinos have made
social progress from being slaves to conquistadores into a freedom-loving society
because slavery during the Spanish colonial era was the norm; and it was a different time
compared to modern Philippines.

Learning Activity

Directions: answer the following below, 10 points each. Submit your answer on or before
Tuesday (April 27,) through email (kennmark.edulan@jhncsc.edu.ph) or messenger (Kenn Mark
Josh Edulan II).
 1. What are the negative consequences in taking cultural relativism seriously?
2. Make a short essay evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of Cultural relativism.

Ps. highly suggested to use MS-Word (encoded) for easy downloading in my part. And don’t
forget to write your name in the file and above your answer.