Professor Stanley
English 100
19 October 2017
A Defense Of Moral Relativism
Ethical relativism or Moral relativism is the proposition that what is considered moral or immoral or what is wrong or right depends on culture norms, and what behaviors is accepted in different societies in which a decision is made. Also what can be deemed as immoral or moral, bad may be good and ethical in another's society Many cultures differ in their moral practices. These moral and ethical decisions are also based off of inner judgments.
In defense, Anthropologist Ruth Benedict supports the concept of moral relativism in “The Case For Moral Relativism.” Benedict starts by asserting that morals are cultural norms and that morals are culturally …show more content…
The Kwakiutl, which hasn't been in contact with has remained untouched by world wide standardized civilization Benedict states “A chief whose son has died goes visiting wherever his fancy dictates, and he says to the host, my prince has died today, and you go with him. Then he kills him”(pg. 622). To the Kwakiutl people whenever a loved one dies whether was by becoming old, natural causes or simply by a accident it is seen as an insult in the Kwakiutl culture and the insult is dealt with by committing murder against someone else, “There would be some, even in our society, but it is not recognized and approved mood under the circumstances”(pg. 622). In our modern society we have our murders and homicides but it would not be accepted and not approved of, if this happened in our society today people would be put in jail and seen as immoral, according to Benedict these examples demonstrate how what is considered moral in one's society and culture is immoral in another society and …show more content…
Also societies can acknowledge cultural differences in moral beliefs and practices and still hold that most of these beliefs and practices as well are morally wrong, another example would be the practice of slavery in pre-civil war U.S.A. Society or the horrible treatment and mass genocide of millions of innocent of Jews the whole concept of the mass killing of Jews, but was viewed as cleansing to Hitler & his Nazi party during The Holocaust which was present from 1941-1945. The Holocaust was different from America's viewpoint was seen as immoral and unacceptable, but in the Nazi’s society this mass genocide was seen as cleansing and morally correct, and in the United States slavery was accepted and was a cultural norm to many Americans making it become moral and acceptable, even though slavery was just as dehumanizing as the mass genocide of innocent Jews under Hitler. Even though slavery itself ended in “1865” it still portrays how Moral relativism is still being shown years after Plato’s