The Challenge of Cultural Relativism

In the article "The Challenge of Cultural Relativism" by James Rachels, the differences between societies and their cultures is discussed.  There are major differences between moral codes that are acceptable and unacceptable.  The idea that there are universal truths in ethics is a myth.  There is no measure of right and wrong other than the standards of one's society.  Although cultures have differences, there is less disagreement than it seems, and all cultures have some values in common.  

The author feels that Cultural Relativism rests on an invalid argument, that it has consequences that make it implausible on its face, and that the extent of cultural disagreement is far less than it implies.  In addition to these mistakes, someone can also learn lessons from the theory.  According to Rachels, it "warns us, quite rightly, about the danger of assuming that all our preferences are based on some absolute rational standard....", and teaches us to keep an open mind. 

In relevance to literature, I thought I could make a good comparison to the values in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."  In this poem, a man cowers before his fear of telling a woman he loves her.  He justifies his inaction by concluding that he has plenty of time, but ends up growing old and alone, because he does not gather the courage to confess his feelings.  The differences between old love and modern love are almost like the differences between the moral codes of various cultures because, in my opinion, the past and present are different "cultures."  In past times, people looked at love/marriage as more of a contract, arrangement, or way to gain wealth or higher social status.  Although they did not love each other (sometimes at first, sometimes never), there were no divorces.  Love was not an option, and many marriages were arranged for the above reasons.  In current times, most marriages or relationships are started because of feelings of infatuation or love, and caring about someone. Although these emotions are genuine, some people move too quickly, and rush into marriage.  Not knowing someone fully leads to our high divorce rates nowadays. 

In relevance to society, a recent scandal can be attributed to both old and modern love: the divorce of Kim Kardashian and Chris Humphreys after a mere 79 days of marriage.  It is old love in the way that many people are thinking it was just a publicity stunt, much like when people had arranged marriages for social status.  It is modern love in the way that they took their relationship too quickly, thinking they were in love and had strong feelings for each other.  They did not consider the seriousness of marriage, and then threw it away like it was nothing.  Now they are fighting over Kardashian returning her engagement ring, designed by Lorraine Schwartz, which features a 16.5 carat emerald cut center stone flanked by two 2-carat trapezoids ... for a grand total of 20.5 carats.  It is worth a whopping $2 million.  I guess it's true....money really doesn't buy happiness!


Happy New Year!!!! :)