The concept of cultural relativism

Cultural relativism is a component of a broader moral theory called moral relativism, which holds more generally that moral values are human inventions.

This broader theory includes both
*Individual relativism - namely, that each person creates his or her own moral standards
*Cultural relativism – namely, that social cultures create moral standards

The concept of cultural relativism requires that others objectively consider action, beliefs, values and norms within their own cultural contexts in order to understand them.

Robert Redfield enunciated the core tenets of cultural relativism nearly a half-century ago: Cultural relativism means that the values expressed in any culture are to be both understood and themselves valued only according to the way the people who carry that culture see things.

It demands a situated understanding of what people do and because of this it generally clarifies the ‘why’ through an appeal to cultural context.

There are six important variants on the theme of cultural relativism:
*Epistemological relativism
*Logical relativism
*Historical relativism
*Linguistic relativism
*Ethical relativism
*Developmental relativism
The concept of cultural relativism

Cultural relativism

Cultural relativism says that good and bad are relative to culture. What is ‘good’ is what is ‘socially approved’ in a given culture.

William Graham Sumner, in his view on cultural relativism as: Everything in the mores of a time and place must be regarded as justified with regard to that time and place.

In other words the concept of cultural relativity is the positions that ideas, actions, and objects should be evaluated by the norms and values of the culture in which they are found rather than by another culture’s norms and values.

Cultural relativism is an argument against the universality of ethical theories. It argues that:
*Different societies have different moral codes
*There is no objective or universal truth in ethics or morals
*Therefore, what is determined to be moral is solely determined by one’s own culture

The idea of cultural relativism denies the applicability of universal principles of justice but what principles should take their place in international affairs is by no means clear.
Cultural relativism