Cultural Relativism

"Morality differs in every society, and is a convenient term for socially approved habits."- Ruth Benedict

Cultures have many different moral codes, but in the end they are all generally the same. While one culture may think it is morally correct to have something eat the dead body of one of its members and the other think it is morally correct to have them burned, they both are the same in the thought that the dead bodies should be gotten rid of in some fashion. This is the same to how our culture believes in either cremating or burying the dead bodies of our loved ones; we are still doing something with the body to get rid of it. In saying that, I agree there is no right or wrong method, it is all based on the culture. While one may be disgusted at the thought that people may feed the dead bodies to an animal, they have no right to judge or retaliate because that is what the people of that culture think is honorable. They would think burning the bodies is totally disrespectful, but it is just the opinion. This could lead to many clashes between cultures if they were being mixed with one another. How would they decide which method is the correct one? Another question brought up is what would you do if in one culture it was custom to kill everybody of a certain race? Like with the Holocaust, is it considered a moral code for the Germans to kill the Jews? And if you can consider it like that, how was it valid for everyone to try and stop them if that was their morals that we have no right to judge? I believe that moral codes can only be brought to an extent. In harmless matters such as the burning or eating of dead bodies, then that is all based on the opinions of that culture. When much more serious matters come into play like genocide, then you have every right to step in. While I believe it is sort of a moral code, it is too extreme and should be tampered with. In addition, our moral codes are definitely not all perfect, which cultural relativism would forbid us to say. One example of an imperfection in our moral codes is many believing men are superior to women. Which leads into moral progress, because the role of women and their power has greatly increased over time and is still leading towards 100% equality. Moral codes are typically generated through many facts and religion, in addition to values. This accounts for the difference in customs, the different contributions of different aspects. Like all cultures have different moral codes, they also have many that are alike. For example, the caring of infants because they cannot take care of themselves and they are the future of that culture. I agree with the two lessons we should learn from the theory of cultural relativism. It does show that many of our practices are peculiar to our society, and not able to be proven correct. If so, then everyone would have the same moral codes. Also keeping an open mind with moral codes is essential to daily life, getting along with people of different views, and ultimately living a happy life.