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Unique Number: 751945
Module: APY1501
ASSIGNMENT 1: DISCUSSION
Cultural relativism Vs. Universal human rights.
Should sociocultural system be judged by its own beliefs and behaviour rather than other
system morals and values?
No, we live in a rapidly changing world society, which is increasingly bringing people of
various cultures in closer interaction with each other. This interaction can be positive or
negative depending on the level of sensitivity and respect people have for other cultural
groups. 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. We are all different and have different values and beliefs. It gives no one the right to
judge any one in any matter or anyone’s culture or traditions/beliefs. Cultural relativism
refers to not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right or wrong, strange or
normal. “A sociocultural system is a "human population viewed in its ecological context and
as one of the many subsystems of a larger ecological system.” And therefore should not be
judges by its own beliefs and behaviour because if you look at the system as a whole there
are many topics, headings covered by this system and one should not be judged if he/she
falls under that heading, everyone is and are themselves and they have their own beliefs and
behaviours. No culture beats another, we are all our own, in our own way, and should not be
judges for who we are as people.
Can we broadly make a distinction between right and wrong or good or bad on the global
scale?
No, not really. Because your judgement can be right and mine wrong, but almost the same.
What seems right to you in your culture would or could maybe be wrong in mine. Ethics,
broadly, is concerned with the meaning of all aspects of human behaviour. Theoretical/
normative ethics aims to differentiate right from wrong. An organization's culture sets
standards for determining the difference between good and bad decision making.
People’s cultures and beliefs differ from another, so we can’t really make a disti nction
between right and wrong or even good or bad, but we all know right from wrong in our
different cultures and believes, as long as you know one from the other, wrong from right in
your own culture. For e.g. let’s say in my culture I am allowed to date/marry someone from
another culture and it is not seen as wrong or right or good or bad, then in some other
culture you have to marry the same culture, otherwise it is seen as wrong and or can be seen