CULTURAL RELATIVISM Flashcards
refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects, and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving
culture
shared way of life of people living together in the same environment
culture
TRUE OR FALSE
subcultures can exist within cultures
TRUE
TRUE OR FALSE
no culture is perfect
TRUE
2 Cultural views to consider
ethnocentrism
xenocentrism
the view which holds that all moral principles are valid relative to particular society or individual
ethical relativism
it claims that there are no valid moral principles at all (or at least we cannot know whether there are any)
ethical skepticism
it assets that there are universally valid moral principles binding on all people
ethical objectivism
it is the tendency to perceive and judge others according to one’s cultural standards
ethnocentrism
it is the tendency to value other cultures more highly than one’s own
xenocentrism
TRUE OR FALSE xenocentrism is related to colonial mentality
TRUE
According to the relativist perspective, the rightness or wrongness of an act depends on ___________________ or the ____________________
moral norms of the society; moral inclination of the individual
2 forms of ethical relativism
cultural ethical relativism
individual ethical relativism
cultural ethical relativism is also known as
cultural conventionalism
The rightness or wrongness of an action depends on societies norms
cultural ethical relativism
individual ethical relativism is also known as
ethical subjectivism
the rightness or wrongness of an action lies on the individual’s own commitments
individual ethical relativism
this suggests that an entire community or social group rather than an individual, imposes its own worldview on others and compels them to follow such orientation without question
sociocentrism
who said, “man is the measure of all things”
protagoras
It claims that there are valid moral principles justified by virtue of their cultural acceptance
cultural ethical relativism
this means that people should try to understand and respect the beliefs, traditions, and practices of the cultures of others
tolerance
this adheres to the idea that ethical norms differ from one society or culture to another
cultural relativism
arguments in the attraction of ethical relativism
diversity argument
dependency argument
toleration argument
this argument is premised on the factual or empirical claim that moral beliefs and moral rules vary from culture to culture
diversity argument