December Blog

In the article about cultural relativity it claims that there is no moral truth that holds for all people at all times. It later goes on to say that there are only a few rules that all societies have in common including rules against lying and murder. Without those two rules, societies would not be able to function or continue. The rest of the article discusses the idea of cultural relativity. Cultural relativity says that right and wrong differs between societies and that people cannot determine what is actually right or wrong because they will side with the morals of their society. So it is hard to decide if different practices are in fact wrong practices. In Things Fall Apart there are obvious cultural differences between Okonkwo’s tribe and the white men. The white men see it as a crime and wrong to kill infants but Okonkwo’s tribe believes twins are evil and so they have to be killed. This is an example of cultural relativity because the morality of killing babies changes between societies. Another example is how Okonkwo’s tribe believes in many gods but the white men only believe in God. The white men tell Okonkwo’s tribe that they are wrong for having multiple gods but the tribe believes that they are right. This shows how it is not possible to determine wrong or right between societies. The issues between right or wrong between societies is shown today through the argument about abortion. Some groups of people argue that abortion is not morally wrong because the baby is not born yet and is not actually a person and that it’s the mother’s body and therefore her choice. Other groups of people argue that it is wrong because regardless of it still being inside the mother, the baby is still a person and is still alive. This argument between groups of people and different cultures shows the idea of cultural relativity and how when the issue is viewed through the beliefs of both sides, it is difficult to pick which is right without choosing the side of a person’s own society or culture. I side with the pro-life group and believe that the baby is a person and that abortion is murder. There will always be different situations to consider which also affects the ability to determine to morality of abortion. For myself, I believe it is terribly wrong and not something I will ever consider.