Cultural Relativism

An action is right if and only if it is held to be so by the culture in which it occurs

History: William Graham Sumner

i. The world of Culture A differs from that of Culture B

ii. Morality evolved in cultures to be useful

iii. What is morally “useful” differs between Culture A and Culture B

iv. \Morality is not universal

The “Need for Tolerance” argument

i. We ought to be tolerant of moral practices of other cultures

ii. The only way to do this is to accept Cultural Relativism

iii. \We ought to accept Cultural Relativism

Cultural Differences Argument

i. The moral code of Culture A is different from the moral code of Culture B

ii. Different cultures have different moral codes.

iii. \What is morally permissible changes from one culture to the next.

General problems for CR 1. Contradiction? 2. What counts as a “culture”? Some positives of taking CR Seriously 1. Promotes tolerance 2. Some differences really are just preference 3. Recognize that our own moral beliefs are largely dependent on culture 4. Promotes “cultural” modesty

Some negatives of taking CR Seriously

1. Can settle moral disagreements just by polling

2. Cannot have moral progress

3. Cannot criticize or praise another culture’s practices

4. No cross-cultural learning/ teaching is possible

Are there universal human values?