• Culture can be

defined as all the

behaviours, ways of
life, arts, beliefs and
institutions of a
population that are
passed down from
generation to
generation.
• Culture has been
called “the way of life
for an entire society.”
• Relativism is the
belief that
knowledge is
determined by
specific qualities of
the observer.
• In other words,
absolute (universal)
knowledge of the
truth is impossible-
one opinion is good
as another.
Cultural Relativism
• Holds that different
cultures have different
moralities and that what
one culture believe is
wrong, another culture
may believe that it is
right.
• Because Morality
develops differently with
different cultures, it is a
social product.
• is a descriptive ethic.
Example 1
• Here in the
Philippines,
premarital sex is
morally
unacceptable. If
go to another
country,
teenager want to
lose their
virginity at a
young age.
Example 2
• Here in the
Philippines, we do not
cease to debate on
the moral
acceptability of
contraceptives,. In
other country,
abortion is perfectly
normal, more so the
use of artificial
contraceptives.
 Example 3
• In Bolivia, 14-
year old girl
can legally get
married.
• In China, men
have to wait
until they’re
22.
Example 4
• In America, eye contact suggests that you are paying
attention and interested in what a person has to say.
Yet, in other cultures, eye contact can be considered
rude and a challenge of authority.
Example 5
• In India, Nepal and Pakistan, millions of men, women and
children are used as forced and bonded labour in these
countries. Most are dalit or from a low caste, or are from
indigenous or minority groups. Laws against the caste
system and against bonded labour exist but are not
enforced.
 WHAT IS IT?
1. Different societies have different moral codes.
2. There is no objective standard that can be used
to judge one societal code better than another.
3. The moral code of our own society has no
special status; is merely one among many.
4. There is no “universal truth” in ethics-that is,
there are no moral truths that hold for all
peoples at all times.
5. The moral code of a society determines what is
right within that society; that is, if the moral
code of a society says that certain action is right,
then that action is right, at least within that
society.
6. It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the
conduct of other peoples. We should adopt an
attitude of tolerance toward the practices of
other cultures.
What is Ethical Relativism?
• It refers to a view or doctrine that
ethical values and beliefs (as to
what is right/good and
wrong/bad) are relative to the
time, place, persons, situations
and societies that hold them.
• It is a theory that holds that there
are no universal valid moral
principles; that all moral values
are valid relative to culture or
individual choice.
 Ethical Relativism
• For ethical relativist,
“whether an action is
right or wrong
depends on the moral
norms of the society
or the moral
commitments of the
individual, no absolute
standards exists by
which differing rules
or commitments can
be judged.”
Ethical
Relativism
• Relativist does not, however, try to tell us which
acts and practices are right and wrong.
• “It only says that no matter how we answer that
question, we must acknowledge that an act or
conduct may be both right and wrong at the same
time-say, right in one culture but wrong in
another. To put more simply, differing moral views
about the same action may be both right at the
time.”
Example 1
• In Islam, polygamy (one man many wives) is
allowed, with the specific limitation that a man
can have up to four wives at any one time. The
Qur’an clearly states that men who choose this
route must deal with their wives justly. If the
husband fears that he cannot deal with his wives
justly, then he should only marry one.
Example 2
• On July 20, 2005
Canada became the
fourth country
(Netherland was the
first in 2001) in the
world and the first
country to legalize
same sex marriage
nationwide,
however, countries
such as Australia
have yet to do so.
Example 3
• Active
Euthanasia
is illegal in
New
Zealand,
Australia
and the
United
States but
not in
Switzerland.
Example 4
• Abortion is
condemned as
immoral in
Catholic but is
practiced as
morally neutral
form of birth
control in
Japan.
Ethical Relativism
• Denies the existence of a single, universally applicable
moral standards.
• Morality is relative to (depends on ) one’s society and its
standards therefore each society has its own moral
standards therefore each society has its own moral
standards.
• An action is morally right for a person if one’s society
approves of the action.
• Since there is no morality that all societies follow, one
must follow the morality of one’s particular society
(conformity).
Relativism
 Activity

Enumerate five specific

practices that are considered
good or right in one culture
but not so in another.