What Is Cultural Ethical Relativism

Words: 626
Pages: 3

Trevar Boiarsky
Phil 2306
Jenson
2/6/2017
Critique of Cultural Ethical Relativism The idea of Cultural Ethical Relativism is that there are many cultures throughout our world, but there does not lie an independent standard from which we may judge another culture. “The argument for Cultural Ethical Relativism is (Rachels, 2012: p.18): P1. If Different cultures have different moral codes, then there is no objective truth in morality. P2. Different cultures have different moral codes. C. Therefore, there is no objective truth in morality.” Each society has a different moral code. A moral code is made of standards to live by, and there are reasons for which those standards were made. There is always a logic that can be applied to any moral code. So, if a culture has logic behind their code, how can there be an objective truth? There cannot be an objective truth because every culture is different, so different scenarios apply to different cultures. People live daily life in completely dissimilar ways in each culture. Therefore, one may believe this to be true.
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For example, in the Satere-Mawe tribe in Brazil, boys become men by putting on gloves filled with irritated bullet ants. Bullet ants have the highest rated pain index and the pain is like being hit by a bullet. Here in America, boys become men in their later teenage years when they are almost through with puberty and become independent. In the tribe, men are thought to be warriors, so the reason behind their ritual is that warriors are meant to show strength and not weakness. When a boy becomes strong in this culture, they become a man. Here, when a boy becomes a man, he can support himself