Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Ethnocentrism vs. Cultural Relativism?
Ethnocentrism is believing that one culture is superior to any other. All other cultures are judged against the one 'superior' standard. Cultural Relativism means that, 'it may not be right in ours, but it works for them so that is their business'. The conflict comes in when practices, say genital mutilation, are practed in the U.S. Is it ethnocentric to judge? Or should we adapt under cultural relativism? The truth is that there are no right or wrongs. Each culture defines its own moral boundaries through a codified body of law. Those boundaries are freedom (Durkheim). The examples you mentioned are the extreme, yet there are numerous other latent differences that could be under the same skeleton of ysis (such as what parts of the body may be revealed in various cultures). I think the dividing line is what shocks the public conscious to a point to where cultural relativism no longer matters.
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