In other words….

For example
• Ilokanos use bagoong in cooking… for them this is the correct way of
cooking vegetables

• Bicolanos, on the other hand, would use coconut milk (gata) to cook
vegetables… for the this is the correct way

• Cultural relativism claims that both practices are right in their own
particular context
Well, that might be true in cooking,
but what about in morality? Turn to
the next slide for the example….
In other words….for example…
• For the Callatians, it is just right for them to eat the dead bodies.

• For the Greeks, eating dead human bodies is wrong.

• Cultural relativism would claim that both are right. But take note that
the practice of the Callatians contradict that of the Greeks, so, both
cannot be both right!
• So we cannot accept that there is no objective moral standard of
actions!
 The next 2 slides explain
further the concept of cultural
and moral relativism….
In other words,
• What is true to you may be wrong to me and vice versa, because we
belong to different cultures…..

• Now, what are the advantages and disadvantages or dangers of

cultural and moral relativism? See the next slides…..
In other words,
• Advantage….Cultural/moral relativism acknowledges variety of
beliefs, and promotes cultural tolerance….

• BUT: it does not resolve the issue: which is right and which is wrong?
For instance… the case of the Callatians and Greeks…. Both cannot be
right ways of dealing with the dead!
Here is another example:
Another is the practice of racial
discrimination ….
• In the past the government of South Africa practiced apartheid, in
which whites and blacks were treated separately, the whites being
favored and the blacks being discriminated upon…
• There was also a time that in the United States of America, the blacks
and whites had separate buses, toilets, schools, etc.

• Was this fair?

• See the next slides for other examples….
In other words,
• Morality is not simply a matter of opinion.
• When it comes to morality, there has to be objective
moral principles that are true to all, that cut across
cultures.
• It is our task in Ethics to discover these objective
moral principles and use them to examine our cultural
practices.
Now to your Activity 4:
Activity number 4:
• Research and comment on the morality of the following practices:

• 1. The practice of parents arranging the marriages of their children. In

what parts of the world is this practiced, and why? Would you like this
to happen to you? Why?
• 2. The practice of eating dogs in China– there is even a month-long
festival for it. On one hand, how do the Chinese justify their eating
dogs? On the other hand, why are some groups against the practice?
What about you? Explain .