Critical evaluation of the respective interpretation of cultural relativism as explained by Bernard Williams and Alasdair MacIntyre

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

3 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

05/17/2009

Category :

Philosophy & literature

Sub category :

Humanities/philosophy

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Summary :

Introduction
They are not moral truths: Morality from culture to culture
1. Argument
2. Critique
Two sophisticated cultural relativist theories
1. Argument
2. Critique
Conclusion

Abstract

The moral relativism denies that any moral code has universal validity, and ethical propositions do not reflect absolute and universal moral truths. Morality is relative to social, cultural, historical or personal circumstances. The idea of relativism is not new. Protagoras, a Sophist, claimed that "the man is the measure of all things". Human custom determines good and evil, just and unjust. Thus, ethical assertions are absolutely true or always only relative to some individual, society, or culture (moral relativism and cultural relativism)?

cultural relativism is the view that all ethical judgments are culturally conditioned. The moral codes change in accordance with the society. We cannot think about a moral code that would apply at all times and in all places. Because the moral knowledge is limited, and moral values are arbitrary, relative or subjective, cultural relativism is a form of skepticism. Morality is a local matter that varies from culture to culture. As stated by the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, culture is the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time. Contemporary arguments to support cultural relativism are produced by ethnologists.