CULTURAL RELATIVISM

I. OVERVIEW

After studying the meaning of culture, how it is learned and how it shapes moral behavior, let us focus on cultural relativism, its meaning and its strengths and
weaknesses.

II. LEARNING OUTCOME

Explain cultural relativism.

III. DISCUSSIONS AND

SELF LEARNING
ACTIVITIES (SAA)

1. Read this statement: ― What is true for me is true for me, and what is true for you is true for you. ‖ Do you agree with this statement? Those who say NO, they don’t
agree, from one group, and those who say YES, they agree from another group.

ANALYSIS

1. Is there any danger posed by this thought: ―What is true for me is true for me, and what is true for you is true for you‖?

ABSTRACTION

What is cultural relativism? First, relativism says ―what is true for you is true for you, and what is true for me is true for me.‖ Analogously, cultural relativism would say,
―what you believe, value or practice depends on your culture while what I believe, value and practice, depends on my culture.‖ in other words, cultural relativism is ―the idea
that a person’s beliefs, values and practices should be understood based on that person’s own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another. Stated in another way:

Cultural relativism is the view that moral or ethical systems, which vary from culture to culture, are all equally valid and no one system is really “better”
than any other. This is based on the idea that there is no ultimate standard of good or evil, so every judgement about right and wrong is a product of society.
Therefore, any opinion on morality or ethics is subject to the cultural perspective of each person. Ultimately, this means that no moral or ethical system can be
considered the “best,” or “worst,” and no particular moral or ethical position can actually be considered “right” or “wrong”.

(https://www.allabouthilosphy.org/cultral-relativism.htm)

In the context of cultural relativism, the manner by which the African woman is treated in comparison to that of the African man should not be judged against other
culture’s standards. This should be judged in the context of African culture, not in the context of Christian culture.

Cultural Relativism vs Cultural Perspective

However, what the cultural relativist fails to see is the difference between cultural perspective and cultural relativism. A perspective is a standpoint or viewpoint of
something. For instance, there are as many perspectives of a building, a house, as there are standpoints. You try to appreciate the design of a house considering its various
perspective, but you never judge the design based on only one perspective. Trying to understand one’s culture, having a perspective of one’s culture, is needed to understand
people. But it does not follow that morality must be based only on said culture:
…. the problem with moving from cultural perspective to cultural relativism is the erosion of reason that it causes. Rather than simply saying, “we need to
understand the morals of other cultures,” it says, “we cannot judge the morals of other cultures,” regardless of the reasons for their actions. There is no longer
any perspective, and it becomes literally impossible to argue that anything a culture does is right or wrong. If we hold on to strict cultural relativism, it is not
possible to say that human sacrifice is “wrong.” or that respect for the elderly is “right.” After all, those are products of the culture. This takes any talk of morality
right over the cliff, and into meaningless gibberish. (Mckinnon,et al.,2015)
Likewise, logical analysis of cultural relativism yields contradictory implications:
Relativism in general breaks down when examined from a purely logical perspective. The basic premise is that ―truth is relative. ‖ If every truth statement is valid,
then the statement ―some truths are absolute‖ must be valid. The statement ―there are no absolute truths‖ is accurate, according to relativism —but it is an absolute truth itself.
These contradict every concept of relativism, meaning that absolute relativism is self-contradictory and impossible.

Stated in another way:

Tolerance is certainly a virtue...If morality is simply relative to each culture then if the culture does not have a principle of tolerance, its members have no
obligation to be tolerant...from a relativistic point of view, there is no more reason to be tolerant than to be intolerant and neither stance is objectively morally
better than the other.
If… valid criticism supposes an objective or impartial standard, relativist cannot morally criticize anyone outside their own culture. Adolf hitler’s genocidal
actions, so long as they are culturally accepted are as morally legitimate as Mother Teresa’s works of mercy. If Conventional Relativism is accepted, racism,
genocide of unpopular minorities, oppression of the poor, slavery and even the advocacy of war for its own sake are as equally moral as their opposites.
And if a subcultye decided that starting a nuclear was somehow morally acceptable, we could not morally criticize these people.
(MacKinnon, et al., 2015)

APPLICATION
1. Is cultural perspective the same as cultural relativism?
2. Illustrate with an example of cultural perspective and cultural relativism.

IV. SUMMARY/KEY POINTS

 Cultural relativism is ―the idea that a person’s beliefs, values and practices should be understood based on that person’s own culture, rather than b judged against the
criteria of another. ‖
 Morality is relative to the norms of one’s culture. That is, whether an action is right or wrong de- pends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced.
The same action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another.
 The danger of cultural relativism is the idea of relativism itself. Whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced.
What is good depends on what society’s culture considers as good. What is bad likewise depends on what society’s culture con-siders as bad.
 Absolute relativism is self- contradictory and impossible. Absolute relativism states ―there are no absolute truths: which is an absolute truth itself, so absolute
relativism contradicts itself.
 There is a difference between cultural perspective and cultural relativism. To have a cultural perspective is to understand people’s beliefs, values and practices in the context
of their culture. Having a perspective of one’s culture, is needed to understand people. But it does not follow that orality must be based on said culture.

V. END OF MODULE

ASSESSMENT

1. Explain cultural relativism.

2. How does cultural relativism differ from cultural perspective?
3. What is a strength of cultural relativism/ what is a weakness of cultural relativism?
VI. LOOKING AHEAD

Reflection
1. Do you really agree with the concept of cultural relativism? Why or why not?

VII. Self and

Module Evaluation

Rate your learning experience in using this module according to the following scale. Put a star

mark on your response.

4 – I learned a lot from this module.

3 – I learned just right.

2 – I still need guidance on certain topics.

1 – I did not understand anything.

VIII. References

Book/s & Website/s:

Ruben A. Corpuz and Brenda B. Corpus (2020). Ethics. Philippines: Lorimar Publishing Inc.