Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
elements as inferior and
 Challenges the pillars of anthropology
and sociology in terms of universality
and common awareness.
Ethnocentrism
 View that one’s own culture are
dominant and superior to others
 Term coined by William Graham
Sumner (Folkways, 1906)
o Ethnocentrism sees things in
which one’s own cultural
identity is the center of
everything over which all must
be scaled, rated, and referred
to.
 Led to conceited behavior and the
belief of the superiority of one’s own
group with great prejudice to outsiders
 Provides a rational explanation for
attack made on other culture or
subculture in its extreme forms
 Characteristics of Ethnocentric persons
o Have a dominant cultural
element which they see as
superior to other cultures;
o View rigidly their own socio-
economic, political, and cultural
elements;
o See their cultural elements as
normal and acceptable to all;
o Consider in-group norms can be
universalized;
o Discard out-group ethnicities
and cultures;
o Believe that other cultures are
inferior; and
o Look at other culture’s
unacceptable
Filipino Ethnocentrism
 Ethnocentrism in the Philippines is still
emerging due to the sense of identity
 The mixture of different cultures has
created several identity marks resulting
in our diverse cultural heritage, both
tangible and intangible
 Indigenous culture can be categorized
as old, non-advanced technology with
no sense of modernity
 After the primitive age, Philippines
began to be the melting pot of Western
and Oriental cultures resulting in a
shaky and complex identity attributed
to us today
 Philippines today stands strongly
behind our acceptance of our Filipino
identity marked by our appreciation of
foreign influences
o If we totally disregard them, we
run the risk of being left with
nothing but purely our own
native culture and tradition that
may alienate us from the
globalized world
Cultural Relativism
 Objective analysis of one’s own culture
—seeing and understanding of one’s
beliefs and traditions from own point of
view.
 Not to judge the practices of others
based on own culture
 Respect other cultures in their own
cultural context
 Claims of cultural relativists
o Each society has a diverse set of
moral conducts;
o The rightfulness of an action is
primarily determined by the
moral standards of that society;
o There is no objective standard
that can be used as a basis of
comparison;
o The moral code of our own
society is just part of a larger
body of morality and ethical
standards;
o High tolerance among all
culture must be exercised
always

 Consequences of cultural relativism

o Difficult to determine if the
custom of other societies is
morally inferior to others;
o Judgement of actions can be
done just by consulting the
standards of society;
o Moral progress is always
questionable;
o Objective criticism of one’s own
culture is shallow
o There is no idea of moral
progress because of acceptance
of other’s culture

 Mutual respect and understanding must

be observed to deeply appreciate one’s
culture
 Tolerance and acceptance of cultural
diversities within the bounds of own
moral and ethical standard can be a
way to understand individual
differences