cultural relativism
...standard that can be used to judge one society’s code better than another’s. 4. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merely one among many. 5. There is no “universal truth” in ethics; that is, there are no moral truths that hold for all peoples at all times. 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. Some of these claims are false and some are true. This is why we have to hold each claim independently even though it seems they fit together. Studying morality can be a difficult, and this is why we must take into account the mistakes of the theory of cultural relativism. There is a certain form of argument in the theory, which is the first mistake, used to argue the facts about the diversities between cultural viewpoints to a conclusion of where morality stands. From a logical perspective, the argument form is not sound because the conclusion does not follow from the premise. The premise states what people believe and the conclusions states what really is. This form might be persuasive and believable but logically unsound. For example: 1. Muslims refuse to eat pork according to their religion claiming it is dirty and against God. 2. Therefore, eating pork or not eating pork because of religious beliefs is neither objectively right nor objectively wrong. It is merely a belief that varies from culture to culture. The mistake that cultural relativism makes in its form of argument is that the premise is an opinion, a fact. The conclusion, however, is stating how there no objective truth. So, it does not follow the premise. Another mistake in the cultural relativism is that we do not always agree to societies decisions and actions. William Graham Sumner makes a strong point relation cultural relativism, “ The notion of right is in the folkways. It is not outside of them…In the folkways, whatever is, is right.” In other words, we would have to tolerate everything that other societies do because it’s the tradition. What if the actions are inhumane and unjust? For example, when Hitler decided to kill the Jews because his society didn’t want them included. Are other societies supposed to tolerate th...