Challenge of Cultural Relativism
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2.1 How Different Cultures Have Different Moral Codes
Observed fact: different cultures have different moral codes
different things taboos and obligatory
even opposing things as the Darius anecdote illustrates
among the Greeks
one is morally obliged to cremate the dead
one is morally forbidden to eat them
among the Callatians
one is morally obliged to eat the dead
one is morally forbidden to burn them
2.2 Cultural Relativism
Relativist Conclusion drawn from facts like these
There is no objective (absolute universal) morality — no morality per se; rather just
Ancient Greek morality
Callatian morality
traditional Eskimo morality
modern American morality (such as it is . . . )
etc.
“X is Good” is an incomplete expression meaning
“X is good in culture Y” or
“in our culture we approve of X”
Morality differs in every society and is a convenient term for socially approved habits. (Ruth Benedict)
2.3 The Cultural Differences Argument
The Argument
Different cultures have different moral codes
So, there is no objective right or wrong, no objective good or evil
universally holds for all cultures
holds absolutely, regardless of what anyone believes
Criticism: the argument is unsound: conclusion doesnt follow from the factual premise
as shown by parity of reason argument, substituting belief
Ancients believed the earth was flat & we believe its spherical or “round”.
Therefore, the earth has no objective shape.
flat for the ancients
round for us
but the earth is really round — the ancients were just wrong
In general it does not follow from the fact of subjective disagreement that there is no objective fact of the matter being disagreed about.
2.4 The Consequences of Taking Cultural Relativism Seriously
Reductio argument
Provisionally assume X . . . if CR were true
Draw out the consequences . . . this would follow
Show that the consequences are absurd . . . but thats absurd (obviously false)
Conclude not X . . . so CR cant be true.
Absurdities following from the assumption of CR
We could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior to our own: criticism (or praise) of another cultures practices could never be warranted: they would have to be judged by their own standards and, as such, would be beyond reproach. E.g..,
the treatment of women in some Muslim lands & China
the continuing practice of slavery in some places in north Africa,
etc.
We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our society.
a. e.g., the abolitionists would be easily shown to be flatly wrong to condemn slavery as immoral since — according to the standards of their ante-bellum culture — there was nothing wrong with it.
would-be moral reformers are automatically mistaken & every society would of necessity be infallible in its moral convictions (though it might fail to live up to them) since
morality