CULTURAL RELATIVISM

INTRODUCTION
Cultural Relativism is the view that ethnical and
social standards reflect the cultural context from
which they are derived.
Cultural relativism uphold that cultures differ
fundamentally from one another, and so do the
moral frameworks that structures relations within
different societies.
• The term first introduced by Franz boas ( a counter for ethnocentrism)

• Cultural relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs and ethics are
relative to the individual within his own social context. In other words
"right" and "wrong" are culture specific ; what is considered moral in one
society may be considered immoral in another, and since no universal
standard of moral exists, no one has the right to judge another society
customs.

• The ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not to make
judgements using the standard of one's own culture.
• The practice of accessing a culture by its own standard rather than
viewing it through the lens of one's own culture.

• Cultural relativism is concerned with understanding a culture based on Click here to add content of the text ， and
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its standings and not judging it with one's own culture. The idea behind
cultural relativism is to assist people in relating to different cultures that
are not their own.
Types of Cultural Relativism
Absolute Cultural Relativists
It believe that everything that happens
within a culture must and should not
questioned by outsiders. It indicates that
whatever activities are practiced within a
culture, no matter how weird and
dangerous they appear to be, should not
questioned by other cultures.
Critical Cultural Relativism
It questions cultural practices in terms of
who is accepting them and why, as well as
recognizing power relationships. Asks
questions about the cultural practices in
line with who is accepting them and why
they are doing so.
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM
 Advantage

1. It promotes cooperation
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2. It can open people to choose any career options
3. It encourage respect
4. It creates a society without judgement
5. It promotes equality
6. It removes the power of societal conditioning
7. It can easily develop personal moral norms based on
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societal norms.
8. It helps to keep human cultures relevant.
 Disadvantage

1. It would only solely work on perfect humanity

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2. Instead of sharing various outcomes, it encourages
people to establish alliances with others who share
similar viewpoints.
3. It could promotes an individualistic point of view
4. It could limit the progress of humanity
5. It could limit the progress of morality
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6. It could encourage people to isolate themselves
7. It has the ability to transform beliefs into realities.
Implications

• In the cultural relativist perspective, no one culture is superior to another when

comparing their systems of morality, law, politics, and so on.

• This is because cultural norms and values, according to cultural relativism, derive their
meaning within a specific social context.

• Cultural Relativism is also based on the idea that there is no absolute standard of
good or evil, and thus that every decision and judgement of what is right or wrong is
individually decided in each society.

• Cultural Relativism to promote the understanding of cultural practices that are

unfamiliar to other culture, such as eating insects and sacrificial killing.
THANK YOU