PHI 101 Writing Assignment Paper: Cultural Relativism

Cultural Relativism
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Cultural Relativism is the view that ethical or moral systems, which differ from culture to culture, are all equivalently valid and no particular system is ideally ‘better’ than another (Rachels, 2007). Cultural relativism relies on the perception that there exists no definitive standard of ‘evil’ or’ good’. Therefore, every judgment regarding ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ stems from society. Consequently, any outlook on ethics and morality rests on the cultural perceptions of all individuals (Descartes, 1986). This signifies that no ethical or moral system can be deemed to be ‘worst’ or ‘best’ and no precise ethical or moral position can be deemed ‘wrong or ‘right.’
James Rachels in his text “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism” discusses and breaks down the Cultural Relativism theory by conveying the negatives and positives of this theory. The theory’s shortcomings arguing that some of the claims are contradictory and wrong (Rachels, 2007). The Cultural Relativism theory asserts that “nothing such as universal truth exists in ethics; there only exists a varied cultural code.” Alternatively stated, the perspective of ethical or moral systems varies from culture to culture. Therefore, we cannot conclude if one particular system is subservient to another (Rachels, 2007).
Rachels asserts that the notion of cultural relativism is an illogical argument, meaning, it ends in implausible consequences and that moral codes are not entirely different (Rachels, 2007). That said, Rachels concludes that there are no bad or good things; similarly, cultural relativism influences us to be open-minded. Here, Rachels explains that the cultural differences debate is invalid because the conclusion doesn’t necessarily stem from the premises.
Rachels refers to the old popular argument that the earth is flat, which is undoubtedly incorrect, to make known to us that if one believes something; it necessarily does not have to be true. Additionally, Rachels argues that some of the theory’s possible consequences are that we cannot criticize sadistic cultures. Here, Rachels utilizes the anti-Semitic illustration to assert that if cultural relativism establishes that it is erroneous to criticize such kinds of actions because they are constituted in the cultural code, then the theory is incorrect (Rachels, 2007). With that said, another consequence is that we cannot criticize our culture, much less attempt to refine it because the theory states that it is incorrect to make intercultural judgments.
Some values are commonly shared by all cultures, that is; any culture that continues to exist must nurture its’ young ones, every society must value truthfulness, and some prohibition against murder is also required if a society is to persist. There is a culture-independent standard utilized in judging a cultural practice to be undesirable. This measure...