Cultural Relativism
... the same time I somewhat disagree with the Cultural Differences Argument. I realize that other cultures are different from my own and nothing makes my values and morals right, but I have to go against the principle of Cultural Relativism when a human life is in danger. It was said in the work that the Eskimos practiced infanticide. I realize that they are nomadic and the food supply is short, but I do not believe that it gives them the right to take a human life. From a deontological point of view I believe that “we should look at reasoning that precedes the action to determine whether it is good or evil (Birsch, 13). Abstinence is a common way to eliminate the chances of having unwanted children. I believe that it is immoral to kill someone if it is not self defense, regardless of cultural background. I have to disagree with the statement, “We could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior to our own” (Donaldson, 413). All cultures are different but they have some values in common. “There are some rules that all societies will have in common, because those rules are necessary for a society to exist” (Donaldson, 417). In the work it lists that all cultural groups should be protective of infants, establish some sort of value on truth telling, and forbid murder. Without these three values, societies would become non-existent. Rachels states that two lessons can be learned from Cultural Relativism. The first states that “Cultural Relativism warns us, quite rigidly, about the danger of assuming that all our preferences are based on some absolute rational standard. They are not. Many (but not all) of our practices are merely peculiar to our society, and it is easy to lose sight of that fact. The second lesson has to do with keeping an open mind. In the course of growing up, each of us has acquired some strong feelings: we have learned to think of some types of conduct as acceptable, and others we have learned to regard as unacceptable” (Donaldson, 418). I somewhat disagree with the first lesson. I do not believe that our moral values are universally right; however I disagree with the argument that a moral action within a given society is r...