Philosophers and Anthropologists
This ancient historian is known as the "Father of History" and believed that culture shapes human behavior more than rulers do.
Who is Herodotus?
The belief that societal norms are culture-specific and no universal standard exists to judge them.
What is cultural relativism?
This tribe practiced infanticide due to harsh environmental conditions, as discussed by Rachels.
Who are the Inuit (Eskimos)?
Rachels claims that accepting moral relativism prevents us from saying that this practice, like slavery, is wrong in any culture.
What is criticizing harmful practices?
Despite different practices, both the Greeks and Callatians aimed to show this toward their deceased.
What is respect?
This American anthropologist argued for moral relativism, emphasizing that moral codes are culturally defined.
Who is Ruth Benedict?
The philosophical view that certain moral principles are universally valid regardless of cultural differences.
What is moral objectivism?
According to Benedict, this tribe expressed grief through acts of violence, which was moral in their culture.
Who are the Kwakiutl?
Will also accept people of the Northwest Coast
According to Rachels, these types of moral rules, like prohibitions against murder, are necessary for any society to exist.
What are universal moral values?
This is necessary for social cooperation and is a universal value highlighted by Rachels.
What is honesty or truth-telling?
This philosopher critiqued cultural relativism and argued for the existence of universal moral principles.
Who is James Rachels?
This term describes the idea that morality is a social construct shaped by cultural context.
What is moral relativism?
Herodotus compared the funeral practices of the Greeks and this tribe, highlighting cultural differences.
Who are the Callatians?
The consequence of moral relativism where a society cannot judge its past actions or strive for improvement.
What is no moral progress?
Rachels suggests that all societies value this, which is why they have rules against unjustified killing.
What is the preservation of human life?
This anthropologist argued that moral standards are culturally relative and not universal, supporting moral relativism over objectivism.
Who is Ruth Benedict?
This theory posits that ethical statements can be true or false based on how well they conform to universal moral principles derived from reason.
What is moral absolutism?
Benedict discusses this New Guinea society where distrust and suspicion are considered virtues.
Who are the Dobuans?
Rachels argues that this is possible by using reason to discover objective moral truths.
What is moral objectivism?
The basic need that, according to Rachels, underlies different dietary customs across cultures.
What is nourishment?
He used examples like the Greeks and Callatians to illustrate that "custom is king" in different societies.
Who is Herodotus?
Rachels argues against this argument, which states that different cultural practices prove there's no objective truth in morality.
What is the Cultural Differences Argument?
A controversial cultural practice involving the alteration of female genitalia, often discussed in debates on moral relativism.
What is female genital mutilation (FGM)?
The logical flaw in assuming that just because cultures disagree, there is no objective moral truth.
What is the invalidity of the Cultural Differences Argument?
The universal concern for this motivates the Inuit's practice of infanticide, as explained by Rachels.
What is community survival?