NAME: MYRLA A.

CAPITO
PROGRAM: MAED – ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
COURSE: PHILO-SOCIAL FOUNDATION
PROFFESOR: DR. SHIELA PELICANO

TYPES OF RELATIVISM

I. INTRODUCTION

People develop their concerning morality over the time. They do so as a result
of interactions with individuals and social institutions. In different societies each with
their own cultures there are different ideas concerning how human are to behave.
Different societies and cultures have different rules, different mores, laws, and moral
ideas.

The concept of relativism also has importance both for philosophers and for
anthropologists in another way. In general, anthropologists engage in descriptive
relativism (how things are or how things seen) whereas philosophers engage in
normative relativism (how things ought to be), although there is some overlap ( for
example descriptive relativism can certain to concepts, normative to truth).

Through the twentieth century man humans have come to accept a good deal of
the relativistic perspective. However relativism entered the thinking of many people
who hold some absolutist ideas. There are people who hold inconsistent and
contradictory ideas concerning morality and ethics.

In this we will discuss about the types of relativism and taxonomy of relativism .

II. LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to;

 Identify and familiarize the types of relativism and taxonomy of relativism.

III. DISCUSSION:
 It will be useful to generalize from discussions of ethical relativism and to
distinguish descriptive relativism and normative relativism that is claimed to be
relative.

Types of Relativism:

1. Descriptive Relativism:
Describes the fact in different cultures one of the variants is the sense
of morality: the mores, customs and ethical principles may all vary from one
culture to another. There is a great deal of information available to confirm this
as well. What is thought to be moral in one country may be thought to be
immoral and even made illegal in another country. This is a scientific theory
well supported by the evidence gathered by cultural anthropologist.
Is a family of empirical claims to the effect that certain groups have
different mode of thought, standard of reasoning, or the like.
Descriptive relativism is a theory in anthropology, not ethics. It is also the view
that the moral values of individual conflict in unresolvable ways. In order for views to
conflict in the fundamental way required of this notion it is disagreement remains “
even if there were perfect agreement about the properties of the thing being
evaluated” by (Brant 1967;75).

Example:

MORAL in USA IMMORAL In

Eating Beef India
Drinking alcohol, Gambling Middle eastern Islamic Countries
Women in school or business Afghanistan under the Taliban
Women wearing shorts, face uncovered Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan

Or the reverse pattern

IMMORAL in USA MORAL or ACCEPTABLE

Killing newborn females China, India
Female genial mutilation Many African nations (It is
female circumcision)
 Family kills a woman family Somalia, Sudan
member who is raped

Several Reasons that Descriptive Relativisms are Empirical Claims:

 First, cognitive differences between human beings (or even all rational
beings) are impossible, so such differences could never be found to obtain in
fact.

 Second, claims about actual differences between groups play a central role in
several arguments for various types of normative relativism.

 Finally, descriptive claim that some important aspect of experience or thought

does (or does not) vary across groups of human beings.

2. Normative Relativism:

Is a theory, which claims that there are no universally valid moral principles.
Normative ethical relativism theory says that the moral rightness and wrongness of
actions varies from society to society and that there are no absolute universal moral
standards binding on all men at all times. The theory claims that all thinking about
the basic principles of morality (Ethics) is always relative. Each culture establishes
the basic values and principles that serve as the foundation for morality. The theory
claims that this is the case now, has always been the case and will always be the
case.

Is a family of non-empirical normative or evaluative claims to the effect that

mode of thought, standards reasoning, veridical or non-veridical, relative to a
framework.

Descriptive relativism doesn’t imply normative relativism.

-Disagreement is not enough to abandon truth

-Societies could make mistakes.
 The table shows the contrast between absolutism and relativism:

Relativism Skepticism Absolutism

Cultural Relativism
-no moral There are universal ethical principles
principles exist that apply to all humans.
There are absolutes.
There exist a moral core-without which
i. Society will not flourish
ii. Individuals will not flourish

Descriptive Ethical relativism A) There exist moral truths

Normative Ethical Relativism B) Reason can discover truth
No universal criteria C) It is our interest to promote
No absolutes not even tolerance them
No criticism of majority
Reduces to subjectivism

We should not make moral We do and should judge other

Judgments concerning other individuals and societies with reason
Individuals and societies and with sympathy and understanding

Factors contributing to the popularity of the theory of Normative Relativism

1. It is obvious that moral rules and laws vary from country to country. Many
people believe that laws that exist for other people in other countries should
not apply to within their own country. Traditions and costumes are different
around the world: what is wrong in one place might be right in the other.

2. The decline of religion in the Western Hemisphere and in advanced

technological societies. As Nietzsche and Dostoevsky have noted, if God is
dead, then all is permitted.
 3. Increased sensitivity to peoples of different cultures and the need to avoid the
evils of ethnocentrisms. The desire to be tolerant and to appreciate the values
and beauty of a multi-cultural world.

4. The failure for most people to think that there could be a third alternative to
moral absolutism (associated with religion) and cultural relativism.

3. Cultural Relativism:

Describes the simple fact that there are different cultures and each has
different ways of behaving thinking and feeling as its members learn such from the
previous generation. There is an enormous amount of evidence to confirm this claim.
It is well known by just about every human on the planet that people do things
differently around the globe. People dress differently, eat differently, speak different
languages, sing different songs, have different music and dances and have many
different customs.
According to James Rachel’s cultural relativism claims
• Different Societies have different moral codes
• No objective standards in ethics
• Moral code of one’s society has no special status.
• Every moral standard is culture-bound
• No universal moral values or norms

Example:
 Two Types Moral Relativism

1. Cultural Moral Relativism

Rene Descartes, 17th- century French philosopher, notes in the
following passage both the difference between the belief systems of different
cultures, and the apparent reasonableness of each one.
2. Individual Moral Relativism
Also called Subjective Relativism, or simply Subjectivism. The moral
obligation depends upon by beliefs, but it think that the relevant belief is that of the
individual moral agent, rather than that of the culture that the agent is from.

Taxonomy of Relativism

Relativism divides into subtypes in various ways, with different division useful
for different purposes. The classification.
Y is relative to X

1. Y: the things that is relative

2. X : what it’s relative to

3. Type of connection between X and Y(reflected in the phrase is relative to)

Figure 1: General structure of the Taxonomy

What is relative
(Dependent variables)

Mode of
connection

What it’s relative to

(Independent variable)

Figure 2: General structure of the Taxonomy

References:

https://web.nmsu.edu/-dscoccia/101web/101enthrelativ.pdf

https://owlcation.com/humanities/Descriptive-Relativism

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-epcc-introethics-1/chapter/types-of-relativism/