Cultural Relativism

The article “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism” by James Rachels gives insight into the theory of cultural relativism, but also argues against it. Cultural Relativism is the idea that nothing is right or wrong, except relative to the beliefs of the culture one lives in. It argues that we therefore should not be prejudiced against the ideas of another culture because there is no overreaching moral standard by which we can judge whether another’s actions are right or wrong. This idea directly relates to the text we read this month Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. In this novel an African tribe was infiltrated by British missionaries who attempted to convert the Africans into their beliefs. One of the main questions raised by the story was whether or not any culture has the right or the authority to claim their beliefs better than that of another. The British were horrified that the Africans killed all twins that were born and believed in multiple gods. Likewise, the Africans could not understand how one god could cover all the responsibilities. What this book and Cultural Relativism both argue is that not understanding one culture’s practices does not make them wrong, nor does it give anyone the right to attempt to change the practices on this premise.

This does not only happen in stories but in our own society. There are so many examples in our own society of one group of people feeling superior to another based on beliefs. One of the most prominent examples of this is with religion. Instead of respecting the beliefs of someone who practices a different religion than us, we often become prejudiced against them or try to convert them into our own beliefs. We automatically assume that our ideas are right and theirs are wrong, and they often assume the same from the other side. However, as this article so eloquently states, “our feelings are not necessarily perceptions of the truth, they may be nothing more than the result of cultural conditioning.” In the words of the ancient Greek Herodotus, “Everyone without exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best.” If we step back and recognize that this is the case, it might be a lot easier to be accepting, or at least tolerant, of other religions that we encounter.

When reading this article I mostly agreed with the author’s perspective. I did find some insight to be gained from the theory of Cultural Relativism, especially the idea that there is no objective set of rules that could deem one practice right and another wrong. However, I also saw clearly its flaws in the idea that there are some things that, whether or not we can objectively consider them right or wrong, we should not be tolerant of in our world. This includes things like the Holocaust, where we could not possibly step back and allow Germany to annihilate an entire people just because we cannot judge their actions as “wrong”. I also liked Rachels’ idea that there are certain values that span all cultures simply because they are necessary for survival. They include caring for their young, valuing truth, and not allowing murder. Without each of these, the community would die out or fall apart. Reading this article gave me a new perspective on how to view other societies, and was a bit condemning as it is true that I often do automatically assume my own beliefs to be right without taking others into consideration. There is much to be learned about tolerance from the theory of Cultural Relativism, even if it does have flaws.