Why It Is Not The Best Time For Cultural Relativity

By Blogger July 27, 2019 Post a Comment

Cultural relativity is the belief that a person's beliefs, behaviors, standards, and customs should be evaluated based upon that persons own culture, and not against the standards of another. When two cultures view the same action or situation differently, they view it in different ways, thus there can be two opinions on the same situation or behavior. There are a number of different types of cultural relativity.

One of the most important types of cultural relativity is the principle of impartiality. This principle states that two people can be viewed as completely wrong, while two people can be seen as entirely right. This can sometimes be used to justify actions that are viewed as immoral by one culture and acceptable by another. For example, most criminals are seen as bad people by most cultures, but this view can be used to excuse their crimes. This example is perfect of cultural relativity in action.

Another important type of cultural relativity is the principle of difference. The principle of difference states that people of the same culture will view things differently, this will cause them to act and react differently when faced with a moral dilemma. This also can be used to justify actions and thoughts that are considered immoral in one culture but accepted in another.

The third principle of cultural relativity that deals with race is often referred to as the principle of white or black realism. This refers to the fact that cultural differences do not create unique qualities which can be unique to one race. This then leads to the conclusion that all races can produce similar effects in the universe, including life forms and individuals.

Ethnic realism is a particular theory within anthropology that claims that humans are biologically and culturally similar due to common ancestry. Most ethno-culturalists believe that each group of human beings carries the same traits which result in similar behavior. Thus, race is merely a social construct and not an accurate principle of relativity. However, some ethnocentrists believe that this principle of relativity could be proven wrong due to the genetic similarities among human groups.

The fourth principle of relativity deals with the ability of different languages to express thoughts. An example of this can be seen in the fact that all people can communicate in four different languages. However, Melvyn Bragg points out that only English and Welsh can truly be called the 'universal languages'. He goes on to state that other languages such as German, French, Spanish and Portuguese are limited in their expressive capacities due to their grammatical structure. This therefore leaves out the majority of languages, which according to Bragg, makes it impossible for English to be considered as the universal language.

The fifth and most widely accepted form of cultural criticism is what is known as ideology. This is a highly subjective term, which is used to define an individual's political or ethical perspective. Cultural relativism and ideology are usually coupled with traditional moral theories such as utilitarianism, which maintains that the good is primarily determined by the strength of the state, which is founded on the existence of the state and the material benefits it creates. According to critics such as Erickson and Kay, the state and moral perspectives of liberal democracy are not compatible with a critical analysis of culture because such a frame of mind denies the possibility of a dialectical relationship between the state and a society.

In the end, critics of cultural relativity argue that it is impossible to talk about human rights and cultural pluralism in the same frame. Some argue that human rights are universal while others deny this, stating that one human rights does not follow from another human right. Such a view is highly debatable, since human rights are derived from a set of social and cultural practices that have developed across time and are the products of historic societies. Furthermore, there is the concern that universal human rights might be subjected to changes in culture, as events in the twentieth century have demonstrated. It is also highly unlikely that a society will shift its cultural norms over time.