Is there a Culture that is the Best, that all others should strive to become more like?

Quick writing task Is not eating pork wrong? Explain your reasoning of why or why not, giving at least two arguments to justify your stance. Was the holocaust wrong? Explain your reasoning of why or why not, giving at least two arguments to justify your stance.

Writing task What were some differences between answering the questions? Why were there differences?

Culture Relativist Claims: Different societies have different moral codes. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societal code better than another. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merely one among many. There is no ‘universal truth’ in ethics - that is, there are no moral truths that hold for all people at all times.

Culture Relativist Claims: The moral code of a society determines what is right within a society; that is, if the moral code of a society says that a certain action is right, then that action is right, at least within that society It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should adopt a attitude of tolerance towards the practice of other cultures.

Cultural Differences Argument Premise: The Greeks believed it was wrong to eat the dead, whereas the Callatians believed it was right to eat the dead. Conclusion: Therefore, eating the dead is neither objectively right nor objectively wrong. It is merely a matter of opinion, which varies from culture to culture. Logical? Does the conclusion follow from the premise?

Cultural Differences Argument Not quite. Just because they disagree doesn’t mean they’re both right. Example Premise: One culture believes the earth is flat, whereas another believes the earth is round. Conclusion: There is no ‘objective truth’ in geography. Not saying conclusion is false, just that it doesn’t logically follow

What if CR was right? a) Could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior to our own. Is this a problem? How? Examples? b) Morality is based solely on own social standards. Is this a problem? How? Examples? c) Moral ‘progress’ is called into doubt. Is this a problem? How? Examples?

General Comments What makes up a societies customs? Where do they come from? Ex. A society doesn’t eat cows. Differs from our. They believe that after you die, you can embody animals, esp. cows, and therefore wrong to eat grandma. We agree. The disagreement is whether a cow is grandma. Just because a difference in customs, you cannot conclude a difference in values. Important to ask WHY a culture does what it does.

Universal Values? a) Human infants are helpless and cannot survive if they are not given extensive care for a period of years. b) Therefore, if a group did not care for its young, the young would not survive, and the older members of the group would not be replicated. After a while the group would die out. c) Therefore, any cultural group that continues to exist must care for its young. Infants that are not cared for must be the exception, not the rule. Ex. for truth-telling, against murder. Necessary for existence

The upside of CR? a) CR warns us about the danger of assuming that all our preferences are based on some absolute rational standard Still many differences b) The importance of keeping an open mind thinking about cultural conditioning

discussion Is agreeing to disagree problematic? What is the role of folklore in cultural relativism?