Cultural Relativism
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Outline
Introduction: Cultural differences: the lesson to take
The Cultural Difference Argument
Against Cultural Relativism
Lessons and Conclusion
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Outline
Introduction: Cultural differences: the lesson to take
The Cultural Difference Argument
Against Cultural Relativism
Lessons and Conclusion
3
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
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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.
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Outline
Introduction: Cultural differences: the lesson to take
The Cultural Difference Argument
Against Cultural Relativism
Lessons and Conclusion
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Outline
Introduction: Cultural differences: the lesson to take
The Cultural Difference Argument
Against Cultural Relativism
Lessons and Conclusion
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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
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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
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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
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Outline
Introduction: Cultural differences: the lesson to take
The Cultural Difference Argument
Against Cultural Relativism
Lessons and Conclusion
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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
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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.
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