Monday, October 7, 2013
week of Oct 7: Cultural Relativism, on one construal, says that what is morally right is time and place relative to each culture at each time. Think about this. What would this say about sexism or slavery or even genocide? What do you think is positive to take away from this theory? What is negative?
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Cultural relativism says that what is considered "right" and "wrong" is relative to the particular culture that is being spoken of. It's culture specific, meaning that something considered "right" in our culture may be considered "wrong" in another culture. It is perfectly understandable that cultures differ and all believe in different things and have certain ways of doing stuff. I do believe there are lines to be drawn though, like the genital mutilation that we read about in the text for example. I think that is just awful! I understand it may not be considered "normal" for Americans to do things like that, but cutting women in the ways that they do and those women are unable to prevent what is happening to them is just plain terrible in my opinion. The women aren't necessarily old enough to decide what is happening to them for one, and second of all, they are prone to infectious disease and bacteria by doing the mutilation in such an unsanitary manner. Sexism, slavery, and genocide are also things that are unacceptable, because it goes against basic human rights. How can a human treat another human with such disrespect as to make them their slave? How can you go through will killing a particular race just because they are "different" from you? As far as males and females go--yes females are considered the "weak" ones, but without them males could not reproduce or receive sexual gratification. It's a two way street and you can't have one without the other, so why would male dominance be such a huge thing? I think it's morally wrong. Accepting cultures and trying to understand why they may do the things that they do is good for us and is a learning experience so we can be more accepting and loving of each other. But as I stated above, there needs to be a line drawn. When people are being treated disrespectfully and being forced to do things that they don't want to do, then that's when we need to step in and say "no, that is NOT okay!".
ReplyDeleteI really like how you put this. I am 100% with you on this Genital Mutilation. why would you put a women though all the pain and life time of health issues if it is an unnecessary surgery. There does need to be a line drawn and the government needs to relook at these cultures and put a stop to it. I may not understand it because of my cultures but what is even right about it being ok.
DeleteI agree with you on the subject. What is rght and what is wrong, you cant define it, it isnt a predicate therefore it is different across the globe. But why is this? Shouldnt right mean right universally. Obviously, this is not the case or else all cultures would agree. What we find wrong, anothrfinds acceptable. This is why we have different religions. Not all of them believe in the same things, but none of them doubt the fact that God exists, they have a common goal: doing what thwy think is morally to achieve Nirvana e.g. Hinduism.
DeleteI agree with Jenna how you talk about it being hard to define rights and wrongs across the globe. I think that every day the world is getting more and more "universal". if you look at how seperated we were 100 years ago, just imagine how much more connected we will be in another 100 years. I wonder if different moral codes will gradually combine and coexist or constantly conflict.
DeleteCultural Relativism would suggest that the people carrying out these practices see nothing wrong with them. The story even said that five grown women would restrain the adolescent to carry out the procedure. Obviously even many women in this culture view this practice as a matter of custom and nothing more. I do believe this practice to be horribly inhumane and I think it should be completely abolished. That being said. For the sake of argument, what would happen if a foreign culture intervened on the custom of circumcising males at birth because they are not given a choice in the matter? I believe there would be a huge outcry from the Jewish community citing custom and defending "male genital mutilation." I am in no way advocating female genital mutilation just trying to bring up the other side of the argument.
DeleteCaultural Relativism is saying that something is good and something is bad in a certain culture. Some cultures believe in way different things. some believe that women should stay home cook clean and take care of the family when they male goes out and works, but in most cultures women and men both leave the house to make a living. I think that it is down right inhumane what they make these women do. the Genital Mutilation I don't understand why anyone would even think something like this would be ok. Its not even safe why would you put someone though the pain and life long complications like that. I may not understand that its not ok because its not my culture. but if you have to run away and live in a unsanitary and oppressive immigration prison just to get away from something like that. them maybe the government should take another look into it. In there culture the men have the say in what they do. well ok I understand that is how they live and believe but no man is going to tell me that I have to get my Genital Mutilated that is just wrong. I accept mean cultures and how they believe in something different but how is this ok its not there is no point to it, it just hurts women!!
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is hard to look at other cultures and try to decide what's right and wrong, and then you have to ask yourself if you're just saying that and feel that way because it's different than what you're used to? Or is it just plain wrong? In this case, I think the genital mutilation, sexism, slaver, and genocide is just plain wrong. You know how guys have a "bro code"? I feel that this is one of those things where females need to stick together and speak out about these kind of situations.
DeleteI find what you are saying to be both stereotypical, cliche, yet paradoxially true simultaneously. Women, since the age of time have stayed home, cooked and cleaned while their husbands hunted. This may sound cliche, but it is true! The mistreatment of a certain group of people, say women, takes away their freedoms. Why should someone innocent suffer, to us does sound inhumane, yet if we were raised in that particular cultute, we would think that it was absolutely ok!
DeleteI think Cultural Relativism is both a blessing and a tragedy. For those of us in a free religion option we can choose what to believe and for us what we choose is right for us. However for those who can’t choose and religion is forced upon them the only right they know is what is given to them. I think that in all rights if we are able to practice whatever religion we want than it should be the same for every country. Do I think genocide, sexism, or slavery is fair no but if we want freedom of religion we have to allow those people to practice their religion because they may not think the things we do in our own religion are rational.
ReplyDeleteI can see where you're coming from a religious aspect and accepting others for who and what they are, but what about basic human rights? I am a firm believer in practicing free religion and doing what YOU think is right and stand up for what YOU believe in, but these women don't have a right to stand up for what they believe in because they are too young to decide for themselves. By the time they are old enough and are able to make decisions for themselves, it is already too late for them and their genitals have been mutilated. I think it's fine and dandy accepting other religions and cultures, but I think a line needs to be drawn.
DeleteI really like what your say. I love our country for letting us have our own religion. its said how some country's wont let that happen. and they think that its there way and no way. I understand that is how there culture is but its a new time period and thing should change. things need to change
DeleteI do agree that there is a cultural relativism with any place or time. Take for instances, the time aspect. At one point it was politically correct in America to call people who had special needs retarded. Now, that word is frowned up. At one point it was okay to call people faggots, now it has turned to homosexuals. I think there is a point where cultural diversity or cultural morals become a perverse, sick, disgusting thing. When it comes to slavery, genocide, sexism, race, etc, those are things that people just haven't come to their terms with. All of these things have gone on in America at one time. Every country needs to grow within themselves. I'm not saying that it's a good thing, but it happens to the best of us. For instance, I will admit that I have said the word faggot in a derogatory way in my life because it was unusual and foreign to me. However, now that I understand it more and in America it is becoming more accepted I have no problem with it at all. I would say the positive is that cultural relativism gives cultures a way to set themselves a part and grow with what they believe. The negative part is of course in terms of genocide where lives are at risk. I feel like there is a point where your culture and sick pleasures need to have lines drawn, and know when people are crossing them. I just don't know a way that that can happen.
ReplyDeleteI like that you remarked that every country needs to grow within themselves, and I agree. America dealt with slavery, sexism, race, and even genocide, but our knowledge and morals grew and changed and now all of that stuff is generally frowned upon. In this day and age I think that it is hard for us to sit back and watch as other countries practice these things because we think it is wrong. I think that one thing that I have noticed from learning from history is that once one country evolves and changes it ways for the good, other countries follow. Some may be quicker to change than others, but it will hopefully eventually happen.
DeleteCultural relativism means that every culture has beliefs of what is right or wrong. Every culture has an idea of right and whats wrong. But where can we draw the line here? To us, eating a cow is natural, but in india it is a taboo. Some things that we think or feel is right is different to the next person. But like the mutilation of the femail genitalia should be consideted wrong across the board, but it isnt. I love to learn and excepy othet cultures, but it is hard to sometimes. Why should somebody suffer from someones cruel treatment towards them?
ReplyDeleteI love your post. We need more people like you who love to learn and accept other cultures. Since we are in such a big country, we tend to focus on events in our country. We are not taught about other cultures much in high school. In order for us to learn about these cultures we must research on our own or take a class devoted to the cultures teachings. I almost feel like we can't judge any country because a lot of us know nothing about it including myself. Maybe I'm the only one who wasn't taught much about cultures in high school. Excellent post.
DeleteAccording to cultural relativism, what is morally right and what is morally wrong depends on the social and cultural norms of the time. By these standards, slavery and sexism were at one point seen as morally ok. As humans and cultures evolved however, these came to been seen as morally wrong. Genocide is something that I don't believe can every be morally justified. Even though hundreds of people thought that it was morally ok to eliminate entire races, I believe that there are some universal moral wrongs that span every culture and era (murder for example). A positive of this theory would be that morals can be adapted and changed for the current time. As we progress so can our morals progress. An example of this would be that if you took your morals straight from the bible, in a literal sense, both slavery and sexism would be morally acceptable to you. However, we as a society have come to acknowledge that these in fact are morally wrong. On the converse side of that, if your morals are constantly shifting you could end up with potentially bad morals. An example of this would be a society where crime and violence continue to rise and eventually take over said society to a point where this becomes the social norm. Then you have a society that believes it is acceptable to steal, pillage, and harm others to get what they want.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that genocide can ever be morally justified either, but in other countries it just might be part of another day. I also agree that morals adapt and change with the times. I like how you used the morals in the bible as an example. If everyone were to do that slavery would be acceptable in this country as well as sexism. I think that this just shows us how far we have advanced and grown as people.
DeleteCultural Relativism is saying or doing what is right in one culture but may be wrong in another. Positives of cultural relativism would be like how what is right and wrong changes with the times. Like sexism, racism, and slavery are no longer ok because the cultures have adapted to the changed times. A negative to this is that in some cultures what ay be viewed as normal or right could be sinful and morally wrong in another culture.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said "sinful" because it makes me think of the religious connection. I believe that religion is probably what constituted rights and wrongs in the early days and maybe that's why religions began in the first place, to give people moral codes to live by.
DeleteCultural Relativism is the view that morality is relative to a given culture and what is right in one culture may be wrong in another. So to us this article of genital mutilation in females is wrong and sick, but to that culture it is what they believe in. I think people have the right to choose to live the way they want to in a culture, not live by the culture forcing them to do something. I know Genocide is wrong and goes against human rights, but why are the people in Darfur still being killed and raped by their government. We even called it genocide under the Bush administration and nothing has been done about it. I know slavery is wrong and it is still being used around the world. The problem is that we have seen slavery and we have seen genocide (Hitler) in our history and still have not corrected ourselves. There is always going to be two parts to the problem. One side will think it is a problem and one side will think its a lifestyle. If a culture wants to eat people and I know in my culture it is wrong, does it make it wrong as a whole? I just know not to live in a culture like that. I think it is good to think about drawing lines on some stuff, but that also defeats the purpose of a culture right? If one culture says no you can't live like that then we might as well all be a culture with all the same beliefs. It takes away rights while standing up for rights.
ReplyDeleteCultural Relativism, on one construal, says that what is morally right is time and place relative to each culture at each time. Think about this. What would this say about sexism or slavery or even genocide? What do you think is positive to take away from this theory? What is negative?
ReplyDeleteEach cultural has its own views on what is morally right and wrong. Genocide, slavery, and sexism have been viewed as morally wrong among many nations in the world. These nations learned from their mistakes from other outside opinions. Without other outside opinions; the people of these nations would still believe in their ignorance and continue these practices. What we should take away from this theory is that people live in ignorance and do not know any other way. These people have grown up believing in these things( sexual mutilation, genocide, and slavery) and do not see these things as being morally wrong. This is a teaching opportunity and the more sophisticated nations must teach that these things have a dramatic impact on the lives of so many people.
I have already stated what is wrong in my previous statement. These so called "morally right" acts that some nations participate in have a dramatic effect on so many people. These effects dramatically change the lives of many in a negative way; by causing pain, death, and low self-esteem. We must teach the humane way, in a way that is not aggressive to the other nations.
I believe that we are in the dark about how much each country in the world works together economically. The more sophisticated nations are the nations that find the most profit from genocide and slavery. America is known for having power and they have a lot of power to do things they haven't stepped in. Granted we have plenty of people here starving and dying and I won't deny that. The only way all of these things stop is if we all bind together as one and showing our history that will never happen. Great post.
DeleteI like that you highlighted that we must teach in a humane way. Right I think the most common form of "teaching" a new society different morals is to invade and reconstruct their governing body. This would be the wrong way to go about teaching because what gives us the right to do this? However, to attempt to teach in a humane way may not even yield results. The country we are trying to advance could simply choose not to agree and continue in their same ways. I think overall attempting to "reform" a culture is tricky and must be handled with care.
DeleteWhat is morally questionable to one country, is morally right in another. What we think is right and wrong is based in what country and time we live in. I believe that the examples the other students gave on this very apt. But ask yourself, though you may find what another country does as morally wrong, though they may not see it that way, does that mean our country has the right to intercede and force our morals and beliefs upon them? That gross genital mutilation that's happening in aAfrica is appalling. . To us. But maybe not to them. Though obviously some of them think it's terribly barbaric. I just don't think we can judge another culture with what we think is the right answer to what makes life so grand.
ReplyDeleteDo we have the right to force our morals on another country? Good question! In such an appalling example (genital mutilation), most people's common response would be something along the lines of, "yes, when its a severe moral wrong." This is all well and good but the idea of severe moral wrong is different depending on each culture (with the exception of genocide, I think its agreed by all that that is morally wrong). Would be like if another country intervened in our culture? To use an example of another blog, what if India decided to invade because they wanted us to stop eating cows? How would we a culture feel about that?
DeleteOoh, what an idea. I was fixated on the idea of our country forcing our morals onto other countries that i didn't think about what other countries would do about pushing morals onto us. I mean, India could do it too, they pretty much out number us in that tiny country.
DeleteIt does all depends on where your from. Since were all so spread out in this large world were bound to have different views on things such as sexism, slavery and genocide. In high school, genocide was the only thing that we talked about heavily and that was because my teacher had knew someone who survived the genocide in Africa. These things are so bad that most kids don't learn which kinds of leaves us in the dark and we have to interpret how things happen ourselves. The majority of the world would say that we no longer need these things, however the people who do it see no wrong in their doings. Personally, I think that all of these things go on in America as perfect as people think we are. There is genocide everyday with all of the murders, slavery barring the harsh crimes with all of the prisons, and sexism in random households basement. We can all agree that these are all travesties, but I don't think we will see the most change in our lifetimes.
ReplyDeleteI believe that morals will always be relative to culture. Every society had developed their own "rights" and "wrongs" and it wasn't until trade and exploration brought the world together that different cultures began colliding and interacting with each other. I think that it is a good thing that the world is constantly mixing in the melting pot and allowing people to learn about cultures and societies different from theirs, allowing them to make their own decisions about morals, rather than living in a day in age where your physical location dictates what is "right" and "wrong".
ReplyDeleteI would agree in some cases of customs but I don't think that practices that revolve around sexism or genocide could ever be viewed as just "custom". Most cultures view certain extreme behaviors as universally negative. I believe that if most of the civilized world disagrees with your customs on a moral level then they probably need to be changed. Especially in cases that result in the suffering of a group of people.
DeleteI agree with your post. Practices are different all around the world. These people have learned these practices(fgm, genocide, slavery) from generations that have passed them down. These people do not know any other way and they must be taught. There are negative effects of the practices and these effects must be discussed. People need an outside reference that teaches them in a non- confrontational way. Like a big melting pot of ideas.
DeleteI agree with this to a point. I think that there are somethings that are and should always be left alone when it comes to cultural relativism because we do not have the right to push our morals on there. However, there are cases in which one group of people are pushing their morals on other people and hurting or killing other humans. I feel like it is our right to step in at that point and get the people who don't have the same morals as the people who are hurting them out of there.
DeleteCultural Relativism would suggest that things like sexism, slavery, or genocide are not necessarily evil but just difference in culture. I believe the problem with this theory is that in many cases it isn't just the American's "western way of thinking" but most cultures that view certain behaviors as morally incorrect. Especially in cases of adjacent cultures or even people within that culture. Most may not see anything wrong with their customs, but those being oppressed or exterminated most certainly do. On the other hand, those that are doing the oppressing or exterminating, and most likely make up the vast majority, probably don't view themselves as being morally bankrupt or evil. In this way I can agree with this theory that if a person has become accustomed to act a certain way, no matter how strange it may be from an outside perspective, they most likely would never view themselves as evil or morally wrong.
ReplyDeleteCultural Relativism describes how right and wrong in one culture can be different from the right and wrongs in other cultures. Yes, the genital mutilation from the text is obviously wrong in our thinking, but to them it is just another part of life, part of their culture. Just as that is something in their culture that they do which we think is very wrong, our culture has things we believe to be right which other cultures find terribly wrong. An example could be how many Americans eat, table manners and the like have become somewhat sloppy in American culture, while in other cultures, everyone can not begin to eat until everyone is served and seated as well, along with the neatness of how they go about eating the food. As for sexism, slavery, and genocide, all of theses things we would consider wrong. But for example sexism is very much apart of Indian and other indigenous cultures. Typically the male still does much of the working, building, and hunting, as well as many major family decisions. While the females prepare food, keep the home clean, care for the children, and maybe do some gathering or gardening. As much as our culture has moved away from sexism to equal rights for both male and females, it is still very much alive and used in others. One positive thing about this theory is that it is true that cultures may differ in views of right and wrong. While a bad thing is that some of the very extreme wrongs in the eyes of our culture, are tolerated accepted as right in others.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how a weird tradition like genital mutilation even got started. Its funny every country has all these different traditions. But how can you tell someone that their tradition is wrong and one that you may have isn't?
DeleteIn our growing and developing culture we have all been taught sexism, genocide, and slavery is morally wrong. Over time we have overcome certain aspects of these issues. While we have come far, we cannot say that this is no longer and issue for us. To us these issues are morally wrong but they still happen in our own country. Sexism still exists. Many women do not get paid as much as men do, even in the same line of work. But hey, woman can vote now! I feel like we try to sweep those other details under the rug and then just focus on the one part that has changed. Same with slavery. Yeah, we don't buy and sell people from different cultures to do our labor, but other forms of slavery still exist like the sex-trade slavery and that is an issue that isn't talked about much. It seems as tho White America tries to act like it's better than other countries and cultures, like we're so open minded and culturally advanced than everyone else, that we're perfect and don't deal with these issues anymore. unfortunately the whole world isn't going to agree on what is morally right or wrong, but i believe every individual has a moral compass inside them that leads them to do what is right or wrong, and culture has such a huge influence on that compass. it might be wrong to say, but it makes the world that much more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out some of the ways culture has changed. Some of the things that were seen as wrongs and how they have changed for the better but may not be gone completely. I agree that these kind of things do get better and that culture changes, and what you said about individual moral compasses and how that influences culture.
DeleteI completely agree with the fact all of these are morally wrong. It is true we still have issues with these problems however. Could it be that the older generations, whom were raised with sexism and slavery, still believe what they were raised to know? They could just be starting to keep their opinions to ourselves so we just don't hear as much anymore. I also agree that the whole world will never agree on everything especially when talking about morals.
DeleteI don't believe there is anyone around who witnessed slavery anymore.
DeleteCultural Relativism is the thesis that morality is relative to a culture. What I think this means is that whether or not an action is morally permissible depends on the values of the cultural in which that action occurs. I suppose that whether or not slavery, sexism or even genocide is permissible depends on the values of the culture, no matter how reprehensible I may feel it to be. One could ask the question, is slavery morally permissible? In our current culture slavery is not permissible therefore it would be morally wrong to try to enslave another person. However, in other cultures, for example ancient Greece, slavery was an accepted institution. Therefore, a cultural relativist would claim that it was morally permissible for someone to own slaves in ancient Greece. Sexism seems like a topic that never goes away. Seems like a lot of people still have preconceived notions and or attitude that stem from traditional stereotypes of gender roles. Genital mutilation, wow there’s a topic for you, how something like this got started is beyond my comprehension. Why in the world would someone do something like this or in some cases allowed it to happen to themselves. When I think about these topics, I’m glad we’ve tried to put a end to all of this across a world. To me this is nonsense and something we just don’t need in our lives to day.
ReplyDeleteCultural relativism is the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities are part of their culture and how they were raised. We were all raised thinking that slavery was especially wrong because they has been against the law ever since we were born. Sexism is still among us, it isn't near as outdated as slavery is. Men still think they are superior to women and still think they should be getting paid more in the business world. It definitely depends on the time and place due to the fact slavery and sexism used to be part of everyday life. It is just how it was in those times. When is comes to where, look at the south they were all for slavery whereas the north wanted to abolish it. Everything depends on time and place.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the part when you said we are raised to think about slavery as especial wrong because it was just recently in history that it was taken care of in our country. I mean all i ever heard about in highschool history about anything really was things like slavery or WWII. I actually think though it is sad that we focus so little on things like that when there are many other issues that could have been discussed. Slavery is over so there is no reason to continue a long dawn out over education of that subject when kids and people should be educated on problems in society that are current. I think that is why as young adults we get shocked when we find out about all the problems there actually are in america today.
DeleteI think this says the same thing in each situation. Slavery used to be relative in the American culture and wasn't always seen as a bad thing to everyone.
ReplyDeleteEventually people began to see that it wasn't morally right and it was abolished. I think if one group of people see that its truly morally wrong
then eventually the case of cultural relativism will pass but only if the outcome is truly moral.
the upside is that slavery has passed, I think sexism will eventually pass as well.
DeleteI don't necessarily believe in your post. People are strong willed like we have learned in this class. We all have our own beliefs and we will not easily have them changed. If the majority of people do not believe in God I am not going to follow them. I believe what I believe and I don't care if I am against the majority. Please elaborate more I don't know if you are saying the majority or if an outside opinion will change their views.
DeleteI agree with you Gage I am not understanding the post to its full potential. I do not think that a group of people who fully believe one thing can just easily be pushed to do what is morally right and feel like it is morally right. In your example of slavery there are STILL people out there to this day who hold the confederate flag up high and are proud of it.
DeleteCultural relativism pertains to what a culture deems morally right and morally wrong. This means that each culture will hive different ideas of what is right and wrong. However, the cool thing about cultures is that that they change over time, typically for the better. Take American culture; it used to think that slavery was completely okay. Then peoples ideas/thoughts started to change, and eventually it was decided to abolish slavery. Time goes on, and people continue to learn about the world and that changes their ideas on what is right and what is wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post here but one extra thing is cultures that don't change. Sexism, for example in many native or indigenous cultures is very strong. With men doing the hunting, building, working, etc and women taking care of the children and the home as well as preparing food. These ideas in culture are strong and dont have a big chance to change because it is a very important part of life and daily survival. So some things in culture are so in place that they can be very difficult to change.
DeleteCultural relativism is what a culture sees as acceptable or unacceptable. Across the world there is many things that some cultures do that we dont find acceptable. For example countries in which cannibalism is considered acceptable and is sometimes even apart of the religion that is commonly practiced in that area. Yet here where we live you would be arrested for such an act. Here in america women have many rights where in other countries, for example China, they have almost no rights at all. Culture can change over time as new generations come around and find problems with older ways of doing things. I think that a lot of times people try to push their culture and what they deem to be right on other people. For example our country the USA likes to push other countries around when we find something wrong when really we should have no say in how they run their country or work unless it would actually ever effect us here in America. For example the recent syria problems. We thought that using chemical weaponry was wrong and threatened their company. Did we really have the right to threaten them for their actions when they weren't against us?
ReplyDeleteI agree. But I also think that sometimes something needs to be done and someone needs to step in if they see something going on that could harm innocent people. I think that to a point people should have their own traditions. For example, in Syria their were many lives at stake and something needed to be done. Its hard to just sit back and watch a group of people destroy themselves.
DeleteAccording to cultural relativism, sexism, slavery and genocide would be viewed differently in each culture. In our culture they are all considered morally wrong, but in other cultures it is totally normal. I think that the positive aspect from this theory is that cultures change over time and it seems like once one culture stops a morally wrong practice others soon follow suit. The negative aspect of this theory is that we cannot force a change to better and more humane practices. Most of the time if we try to step in and educate different cultures about the harm they may be doing we get labeled as being pushy and interfering when all we're trying to do is help.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you say that change cannot be forced because while it is a positive that morals can change most take a while to change. Even within one's own society a change in morals is often hard fought and can take years to accomplish. Take slavery for example, the country went to war with itself over this issue and even after it was over the true goal wasn't reached for many years after.
DeleteI do agree with the fact that they are all considered morally wrong. Cultures also do change with time but do people who grew up in this age really change their mind or do they just not voice opinions anymore. We still have racism to this day and most of them are the older people who grew up with it like that.I also completely agree with the fact other cultures don't like being told what they are doing right and wrong. They do not take constructive criticism well.
DeleteCereal Killer from the movie Hackers stated, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." While I'm not particularly fond of where he got it from, I do feel that this quote is extremely relevant in this context. As humanity has progressed we have dealt with many controversial topics such as slavery or genocide but we have outgrown them. I wouldn't say that those things were right by any means but I am from a completely different time where such things taught to my generation as being wrong. Now if I had been born 150 years ago I very well may have had a different opinion. This can be a positive thing in the sense that we can look back and see how much our culture has grown. It can be a negative thing for many reasons. It's embarrassing looking back now and realizing the things our ancestors deemed the norm but also just as embarrassing that people still try to push their morals on other people. Everyone is going to have been taught differently throughout their lives on what is and what is not moral and I think, generally speaking, the only person who can truly decided what is and is not right for that person is them self.
ReplyDeleteNicely said. Even though you started off quoting a cereal killer I feel that statement does pertain quite well! I too think its wrong to push one's morals onto another. I think its important to have people that are unique and different. Although I may not believe in some things the person sitting across from me doesn't always make it wrong. If everyone in the world was the same our lives would be simple but boring. Yes! Absolutely everyone should decide for themselves the difference between right and wrong. :)
Delete"Cereal Killer" is a nickname he uses. I think you're taking that as a literal serial killer in which case I would probably not quote him.
DeleteI didn't figure you were being literal. I don't think you quote serial killers. Sorry I'm a sarcastic person and I suppose that would be hard to catch when reading something typed. I was just kidding, I think sometimes we all need a way to lighten the mood with the intense conversations we have on here. I apologize if I have offended you those were not my intentions. :)
DeleteCultural Relativism has its ups and downs. When thinking of cultural relativism seat belts and discipline comes to mind. Years ago people didn't have seat belts. Laws were passed to increase safety of passengers but some of the public thought it was absolutely absurd. My point is what wasn't important then is actually very important today. Technology is another change. So many things are tech savvy these days. Punishment for children seems to be a thin line of discipline or abuse. Before if you disobeyed you were physically punished which now in society that would be considered scandalous and unexceptable. Parents now have to find different ways to teach their children right from wrong. Another example such as slavery, sadly enough many many years ago it wasn't uncommon to have slaves but now it is absolutely unthinkable that any such thing would occur today. Genocide and Sexism too. Down right wrong if you ask me! What's good is that time is behind us now. We don't live that way anymore because mistakes were made and learned from. We are constantly improving our world we live in. What's wrong is to think that in order for us to learn from their mistakes is innocent people actually had to experience and endure such pain in the past.
ReplyDeleteI like how you put this. I just hope that the positive way you put this as we are learning from our mistakes is actually true. Are the people who did these horrendous things actually learning from their mistakes or just holding back from what they believe in? For instance homosexuality. Once was thought to be a crime and people didn't learn or believe what they were doing was wrong, they held back from their beliefs.
DeleteCultural relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. In other words, “right” and “wrong” are culture-specific; what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality exists, no one has the right to judge another society’s customs. How can we judge another culture and say that what they believe in is wrong if it is different from what we believe in. I don't agree with genital mutilation but I also don't think it is right to judge another culture because I don't agree with their beliefs. Many cultures are different and not anyone of them has the right to say what they believe in is the right way. Although, I don’t agree with sexism, slavery and genocide. I think people need to learn to be more open minded to rest of the world. A person is born into a certain culture; they don’t realize that what they are doing may be wrong or weird to someone else of a different culture.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement but heres a question. Is there any sort of moral that is universal? Like murder. Is murder celebrated somewhere on this globe or is it reviled everywhere? I was watching an episode of Hannibal the other day when it came to me. Only humans have serial killer. Only humans have the imagination and drive to kill other humans in creative and despicable ways. Is there somewhere where their culture permits and worships serial killers or is murder surely a universal moral?
DeleteCultural relativism is the view that no culture is better than other cultures. It based on the premise that development is not the same culture of every region in the hemisphere. There is a limit between cultures relative to one another. Therefore there is no truth or falsity of an international nature. For example, I always think the culture in my country is the best and right one because i always compare my culture with others country. Until one day I step out of my country, I realize that there is also a right way of life or manner that other people have and there are best and right to do it. So I think that cultural relativism is owned by every society or group which has developed its culture. It becomes one of the reasons of someone’s action. It is also used to determine an action that is done by someone whether it is good or bad. However, the assessment is according to the character of its culture. Thus, cultural relativism offers a simple premise that any shape or form of cultural products, it should be appreciated. I think there are no real cultural products that can be considered good, bad, better, or worse than other cultures. We should be appreciated not in terms of the quality assessment is based on a different culture, but because it has meaning (meaningful) in the context of the society that gave it birth, though perhaps it was the view of other communities are considered so insignificant (meaningless).
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to cultural relativism I do not agree. I don't think that what is considered right or wrong should be based on a specific cultures beliefs. I understand that everyone has their own cultures but there is a basic understanding of right and wrong when it comes to respecting humans. I don't think it's right to judge cultures for any other reason than something that is morally wrong in nature like genital mutilation.
ReplyDeleteI think the point of cultural relativism is that a persons morals stems from their culture and the time. If no one ever told you that there was a basic understanding of right and wrong then how would you form it? Or what if someone told you that genital mutilation was the right way to go about things? What this is pointing out is that the morals that you live by, the basic understanding of right and wrong, were told to you and you listened. Now that you're older, if someone else came along and told you that your morals were wrong, don't you think you would ignore them? That basic understanding of right and wrong is completely different for everyone because their situations are all unique.
DeleteI think the point of cultural relativism is that a persons morals stems from their culture and the time. If no one ever told you that there was a basic understanding of right and wrong then how would you form it? Or what if someone told you that genital mutilation was the right way to go about things? What this is pointing out is that the morals that you live by, the basic understanding of right and wrong, were told to you and you listened. Now that you're older, if someone else came along and told you that your morals were wrong, don't you think you would ignore them? That basic understanding of right and wrong is completely different for everyone because their situations are all unique.
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