Cultural Relativism Lecture

Question 1

necessary conditions

Answer 1

have to obtain in order for something to occur

Question 2

sufficient social conditions

Answer 2

exactly what you need to get something (made up of necessary conditions)

Question 3

descriptive cultural relativism

Answer 3

different cultures espouse and practice according to different values (ex: suttee, polygamy, female genital mutilation)

Question 4

claims of moral relativism

Answer 4

• different societies have different moral codes
• no objective standard by which to judge that one’s social code is
• the moral code of society determines what’s right/wrong within that society
• There are no moral truths that hold for all people at all times
• The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is but one among many.
• It is arrogant for us to judge other cultures. We should always be tolerant of them.

Question 5

prescriptive cultural relativism

Answer 5

• people ought to live by the values and practices of their culture
• we have no objective basis for evaluating the practices of other cultures

Question 6

fundamental cultural relativism argument

Answer 6

• different cultures have different moral codes
• therefore there is no objective truth in morality that exists
• right/wrong are only matters of opinion, and opinions vary from culture to culture

Question 7

explanations of appeal of prescriptive cultural relativism

Answer 7

• reluctant to judge others about whose situation we are not fully informed
• if there were objective moral truths they would be spooky, and we’re suspicious of spookiness

Question 8

Rachels:

Answer 8

• The difference is in our belief systems, not in our values.
• We cannot conclude that, because our customs differ, our values differ.
• The difference in customs may be due to something else.

Question 9

The deflationary argument

Answer 9

cultures differ less than they seem to

Question 10

the taste model

Answer 10

Andrea likes tea but hates coffee

Colin likes coffee but hates tea

They both say so

Do they disagree?

Question 11

the science model

Answer 11

Jane believes that the diversity of living species came about through a process of random variation and natural selection.

Jim believes that the diversity of living species were created by an intelligent designer.

Do they disagree?

Question 12

reflective equilibrium principles

Answer 12

general claims about what it is right or wrong to do

Question 13

reflective equilibrium Intuitive judgments

Answer 13

considered judgments about particular cases

Question 14

reflective equilibrium

Answer 14

Various instruments (like thought experiments) expose contradictions and conflicts

Question 15

what can thought experiments do for us?

Answer 15

They help us elicit our judgments about cases

They help us specify more precisely the content of the values at stake

They help us identify contradictions

Question 16

reflective equilibrium 2

Answer 16

Get consistency among principles, among intuitions, and between principles and intuitions.

How? By rejecting those you have least reason to be confident in. (e.g., those that concern your self-interest, or where you suspect that your belief in them is merely a matter of having soaked up received opinion).

Question 17

reflective equilibrium 3

Answer 17

Which judgments have you least reason to be confident in?

* those that concern your self-interest?
* where you suspect that your judgment comes from having soaked up received opinion
* where the interests of people you are close to are involved
* where you know that other reasonable people would disagree in your position
* where your judgment is unstable

Question 18

reflective equilibrium 4

Answer 18

Get alternative perspectives.

Rinse and repeat