Next page.-------------- Link to intrologic.htm

REQUIRED READING
You are required to read the following pages of the text book and the definitions and examples given on my assigned webpages. The "Helpful Questions" are here to help you understand the reading.and to anticipate the points I will be discussing in class. If you can master this material without following the reading questions, then you don't have to bother with them. However, the additional text I give on these pages is required because at least some of the points it covers will be on the tests.

Remember, you will be tested on this reading before the next lecture. Be ready to answer questions about this material.

Your reading is from Does the Center Hold? by Donald Palmer. Page numbers in blue refer to the 3rd edition, greenish page numbers refer to the 4th edition, and dark blue page numbers refer to the 5th edition.

I know this sounds weird, but I want you to read pages 299-305 / 306-311 first, and then read pages 293-295 / 300-302 afterwards. The reason being that I think ethical relativism is an easier topic than Hume's is-ought stuff, and it may in fact make it easier for you to understand Hume if you do the ethical relativism stuff first. Plus, the book is wrong again, and I'd like to get that out of the way first.

Read pages 138-146 in 3rd Edition, or pages 132-147 in 4th Edition

, or pages ##-## in 5th Edition

There actually two ways to define "cultural relativism." I find the one Palmer uses confusing and unhelpful, so I use these definitions. Since this is my class, you are required to use the following definitions. If you use Palmer's definition on the exam, you will risk getting zero credit for that answer.

I define cultural relativism as the doctrine that no culture may legitimately be judged by the arbitrary standards of another culture. Cultural relativism holds that Christian missionaries acted illegitimately in Hawaii when they banned surfing and bullied Hawaiian women out of going topless. The missionaries were morally wrong to do these things because they had no independently justifiable reasons for thinking that bare breasts and surfing were immoral. They were merely judging Hawaiian culture on the basis of their own European culture. They saw that Hawaiian customs were not European customs, so they illegitimately decided that Hawaiian customs were morally wrong. Cultural relativism also denies that is such a thing as a "primitive" culture. All cultures are equally advanced, and equally worthy of respect. Cultural relativism is thus a doctrine about cultures judging cultures, rather than about ethics in general. Cultural relativism therefore does not imply that the British imperialists were wrong to interfere with the Indian practice of suttee, in which living widows were forced to throw themselves on their husbands' funeral pyres. Since we have independent reasons to think that it is absolutely morally wrong to force an innocent woman to burn herself to death, the prevention of suttee is not based merely on British culture, so it does not violate cultural relativism.

I define ethical relativism as the doctrine that there are no universal moral rules, but instead what is right or wrong for a given individual depends on what some other person or group of persons happens to think is right or wrong. (Ethical absolutism, the doctrine that all moral laws are universal, holds that what is right or wrong for a given individual depends on the appropriate application of universal moral principles, irrespective of what anybody happens to think is right or wrong.) Ethical relativism is usually defined in terms of culture, hence the confusion with cultural relativism, but it is important to keep the two seperate. The usual kind of ethical relativist argument goes like this. "Some people who mutilate the bodies of little girls do so because most people in their society believe such mutilation is morally necessary. It would be immoral for Americans to carry out such mutilations on their female children, since American culture forbids such mutilation, but the culture of these mutilators requires it, so these mutilators are not morally wrong to mutilate their female children. Curiously, many ethical relativists seem to think that attempts by Americans to prevent such mutilations would be morally wrong, even though American culture holds that making one's best effort to protect innocent people from things like mutilation is an absolute moral requirement. Some people think that ethical relativism justifies the claim that the missionaries were wrong to do what they did in Hawaii. It certainly does justify the claim that the Hawaiian people were not morally wrong to surf and go topless. They were acting according to their culture. But the missionaries were acting according to their culture! And we cannot argue that it is immoral to impose your values on another culture by force, because the missionaries' culture said that they had a moral duty to impose their values on others no matter what. After all, ethical relativism wasn't a part of European culture at that time. Similarly, although the British weren't morally wrong to ban suttee, the Indian men who forced women into horrible deaths weren't wrong to do it. Typically, ethical relativists will tell you that you, personally, should not make moral judgments about other cultures. The trouble with that is, if your culture says that you should make moral judgments about other cultures, then the ethical relativist is telling you to violate your own culture's values, and according to his doctrine, he doesn't have the right to do that! And remember, ethical relativism doesn't have to be just about culture. Any doctrine that says morality depends on what something or somebody says is right or wrong is a form of relativism. Thus we can have political ethical relativism, religious ethical relativism, personal ethical relativism, and so on.

In your own words, define cultural relativism and ethical relativism. Don't just write down my definitions!

(The number on the left is the page number in the 3rd Edition. For 4th edition, add a few pages.)
299. According to Palmer, what exactly does "cultural relativism" deny?
299. On what grounds does cultural relativism deny what it denies?
299-300. How does Ruth Benedict support this denial?
300. According to Benedict, what does it mean to say that something is morally good?
300-301. According to Skinner, what is the alternative to cultural relativism?
301. In your opinion, is there a third alternative? (Look at the cartoon at the bottom of page 21.)
301. What problem does Palmer see with cultural relativism?
302. What is the difference between (1) and (2)?
304. If cultural relativism turned out to be true, would that mean that ethical relativism had to be true also?
304. Why is ethical relativism another version of the is/ought problem?
305. Can we deduce what people should do from what they do do?
In your opinion, are there any people who are actually better off if they're tortured or worked to death?
In your opinion, are there any people who aren't better off if they're allowed to make their own decisions about their lives?
In your opinion, does merely believing something ever have the power to make that thing true?

Helpful Questions
293. What is the difference between a moral claim and a factual claim?
293. Is "people feel pain when they are beaten" a moral claim or a factual claim?
293. Is "it is wrong to beat people" a moral claim or a factual claim?
293. Did Hume think you can support a moral claim merely by citing factual claims?
294. How do we know that it's wrong to cause unnecessary suffering?
294. Did your answer consist only of factual claims, or did it include a moral principle?
294. If your answer was just facts, how could they imply a moral principle?
294. If your answer included a moral principle, how do we know we should follow that principle?
294. What is the principle of utility? Is it a moral claim ("ought"), or a factual claim ("is")?
294. What is Bentham's argument for his claim that we should accept the principle of utility?
294. Does the fact that we like pleasure mean that we ought to give pleasure to others?

Potential questions for Quiz 1. Does Moore think that the term "morally good" can be analyzed in terms of other natural quantities? 3. In your own words, define cultural relativism as it is defined on this page. 4. In your own words, define ethical relativism as it is defined on this page. 5. Did Hume think you can support a moral claim merely by citing factual claims? 6. What is the principle of utility? Is it a moral claim ("ought"), or a factual claim ("is")? 7. According to Palmer, what exactly does "cultural relativism" deny? 8. On what grounds does "cultural relativism" deny what it denies?

How To Make Up Quizzes
If for some reason, (illness, family emergency, conflicting academic obligation, sudden discovery that you have superpowers coupled with the need to save the Earth from a hurtling asteroid that only you can deflect), you miss one of my delightful quizzes, you can make up the lost points by writing up a clear, precise, and deeply insightful answer to one of the potential exam questions and turning the results in as "make-up quiz." Illustrations are not absolutely necessary, but would add a nice touch.

Potential Exam Questions

The following questions may appear on the next exam. Your answers should fully explain and properly organize all the information relevant to each question. This will include a variety of ideas developed in response to the above questions, in your personal reading and in class discussions.

52. In your own words, explain the difference between cultural relativism and ethical relativism.

53. In your own words, explain the arguments for and against ethical relativism.

49. In your own words, explain Hume's analysis of the is-ought relationship.

Any exam answer can be enhanced by addition of any comments that occur to you. The more you think about a topic, the more likely you are to come up with something that can earn you a little more credit for your answer. I never deduct points, so it can't hurt to add your own thoughts.

If you miss a quiz you can make it up by doing all the questions assigned for that quiz. So if you do it on time you have the easy task of doing just one question. If you have to make it up, you gotta do all the questions. Okay?

Next page.

---

This Site is Proudly Hosted By: