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IB Philosophy Essay: Cultural Relativism (24/25)
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- IB philosophy ethics essay on cultural relativism and objectivism - Band 7 essay (24/25) - Essay is structured with subtitles and bullet points
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CULTURAL RELATIVISMIntroduction
Question
The quote above presents the perspective of a cultural relativist.
Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism is the view in meta ethics that there are no universally valid moral principles.
Instead, our moral principles are valid depending on our culture or society.
As the quote suggests, relativists believe that moral principles are merely social conventions which
change with time and place or are cultural preferences.
Societal Implications
Despite the appeal of opposing the idea of ethnocentrism, cultural relativism has grave
implications.
If there were no objective morals, we could no longer justify our efforts to prevent human rights
violations in other cultures or criticize the code of our own society.
In fact, the concept of moral progress would be in jeopardy as the only grounds for sound
judgement is moral approval.
This seems intuitively wrong considering the ‘advancement’ of equality afforded to citizens within
society over the last century.
Evaluation
I will argue against moral relativism and present the case for objectivism, the view that there are
indeed moral facts discoverable by reason.
Cultural Relativism
General Theory
Cultural relativists hold that there is no objective standard that can be used to deem a culture
morally superior to another.
This implies that there are no universal truths/morals that stand true for all people at all times and
that it is the moral code of an individual society that determines what is right in that society.
The Dependency Thesis
Cultural relativism is based upon two theses, the dependency thesis, and the diversity thesis.
The dependency thesis asserts that whether individual acts are right or wrong is dependent on the
society in which they occur.
This implies that the validity of moral principles is entirely dependent upon and determined by
cultural groups.
The Diversity Thesis
The diversity thesis then attempts to prove why this is the case, stating that there is a plethora of
ethical codes around the world.
Therefore, there cannot be any objective ethical principles. For if there were objective ethical
principles, there would be uniformity, not diversity.
This diversity is exemplified when we consider that cannibalism and human sacrifice were
acceptable in some societies and not in ours.
For example, the Aztecs often made human sacrifices and then distributed their bodies around the
city as food. In western society this would be an abominable practice, demonstrating a diversity in
the values of different societies.
Strengths
Strengths of cultural relativism include its promotion of diversity in society and avoidance of
ethnocentrism.
Along with this, it also demonstrates respect for individual autonomy, allowing various
communicates to have the liberty of choosing their own moral codes to live by.
Weaknesses (diversity/not inferior/infallible + progress/reformers/tolerance/culture)
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