Cultural Relativism 1

Cultural Relativism 1

Outline Introduction: Cultural differences: the lesson to take The Cultural Difference Argument Against Cultural Relativism Lessons and Conclusion 2

Cultural Differences: The Lesson to take From cultural differences to cultural relativism? An undeniable fact: Different values in different cultures Two ways to take this fact into account: What s the difference? 1. Moral Circumspection healthy especially for Westerners 2. Cultural Relativism there are no cultureindependent moral values Cultural Relativism is a view on Morality 3

Cultural Differences: The Lesson to take Signs that something must be wrong 1. Comparison with science: Scientific Circumspection vs Scientific Relativism 2. What if we take Cultural Relativism seriously? - no way to criticize values from other societies - no way to criticize values from our own society - no way to talk about moral progress Our aim for the class: Find a way to save tolerance without falling into mere relativism. 4

Outline Introduction: Cultural differences: the lesson to take The Cultural Difference Argument Against Cultural Relativism Lessons and Conclusion 5

Outline Introduction: Cultural differences: the lesson to take The Cultural Difference Argument Against Cultural Relativism Lessons and Conclusion 6

Cultural Relativism: The Cultural Difference Argument The Cultural Difference Argument: P1. Different Cultures have different sets of moral values CC. Therefore, there exists no truth about morality Why is the Cultural Difference Argument not valid? Whether something is the case or not does not have anything to do with what people believe about it 7

Cultural Relativism: The Cultural Difference Argument The Cultural Difference Argument about the Earth: P1. Different Cultures have different beliefs about whether the Earth is round or flat CC. Therefore, there exists no truth about whether the Earth is flat or round 8

Cultural Relativism: The Cultural Difference Argument The Cultural Difference Argument about God: P1. Different Cultures have different beliefs about whether or not there exists a God CC. Therefore, there exists no truth about whether or not there exists a God 9

Cultural Relativism: The Cultural Difference Argument The Cultural Difference Argument about X: P1. Different Cultures have different beliefs about whether or not X is the case CC. Therefore, there exists no truth about whether or not X is the case The Cultural Difference argument is not valid 10

Outline Introduction: Cultural differences: the lesson to take The Cultural Difference Argument Against Cultural Relativism Lessons and Conclusion 11

Against Cultural Relativism: Cultural Agreement Surface difference between customs, deep agreement concerning values: Grandma the cow Dealing with the dead Much more agreement than one might think Cultural Relativism fails to account for such agreement 12

Against Cultural Relativism: Cultural Agreement A custom is often not a good indicators of deep values: - The same value can be expressed through different customs Ex: Grandma the cow again! - The same custom can be the expression of different values Ex: various vegetarians One has to look deeper into cultural differences 13

Against Cultural Relativism: Cultural Agreement Values that are the very conditions of possibility of a viable society: Truth telling Prohibition of murder There are some deep values that must be shared by any society 14

Outline Introduction: Cultural differences: the lesson to take The Cultural Difference Argument Against Cultural Relativism Lessons and Conclusion 15

Lessons to Take From Cultural Differences As a view on Morality, Cultural Relativism fails: - the argument in its favor is invalid - there is counter-evidence (cultural agreement) The fact of Cultural Differences still calls for tolerance Warning against self-centered dogmatism and prejudices 16

Lessons to Take From Cultural Differences We CAN claim: - That some values are better than others - That some customs are wrong BUT we CANNOT make such a claim JUST BECAUSE such values correspond to the values of our own society - The best values may or may not be the values of our own society - In which society such or such value is accepted is irrelevant to whether or not we take it as among the best values. 17

Essay 4 In your opinion, does cultural relativism pose a threat for the ethical management of the environment in South Africa? Motivate your answer with your own examples.