Talk:Cultural relativism

Rewrite

Like it, don't like it? Suggestions? Better, worse? I don't really know what else to add that falls within the scope of RationalWiki -- EWildman (talk)

Western Exceptionalism

So... has there ever been a notable case of a Western society hiding behind cultural relativism? That is for example, an African culture criticizing a European one for crimes against humanity, and the European one saying "fuck you, it's ok in our culture"? Or maybe I'm just blind to obvious examples or something. Mostly I'd just like to add something about how people defending non-Western cultures with relativism will almost never use the same logic when talking about a Western culture. CorruptUser (talk) 03:43, 20 September 2015 (UTC)

How often does it occur that someone from Africa criticizes Western society for valuing women purely for their beauty and forcing them to wear all sort of weird contraptions to make them look like mermaids, jellyfish, snakes, felines or flowers in any venue of note? Western society, for better or for worse, is usually the one claiming moral superiority over other cultures, so when people react with this-is-what-we-do-in-our-culture-okay? coupled with hey-you're-not-so-perfect-either, is that really surprising? 142.124.55.236 (talk) 04:00, 20 September 42015 AQD (UTC)

Also, a century or two back, I bet a European might've just as well responded with "this is okay in our culture". The thing that's changed is that it's no longer okay in our culture. So when someone, whether they're Western or not, points out something we've done that should be considered depraved by our own standards (and yet it's accepted), that's not a claim of cultural non-relativism but just a case of pointing out hypocrisy. 142.124.55.236 (talk) 04:07, 20 September 42015 AQD (UTC)

The issue is I'm trying to decide if it's right to point out that when someone is defending some backwater village for its abhorrent practices, they are not consistent and will not, say, defend racism in the Deep South because "culture". CorruptUser (talk) 04:13, 20 September 2015 (UTC)

Do you have a specific example of someone defending an abhorrent practice in a "backwater village" on that basis who won't apply the same standard to a Western culture?---Mona- (talk) 04:24, 20 September 2015 (UTC)

Well, it depends. If they consider the Deep South as being part of their own culture, it wouldn't be contradictory to have and express an opinion on what should be acceptable in their own culture. The point of cultural relativism is: Don't judge other cultures based on your own cultural standards. 142.124.55.236 (talk) 04:24, 20 September 42015 AQD (UTC)

So... just found out an example of the US military enforcing cultural relativism, because they are such understanding and sensitive hippies. US military told to ignore Afghan commanders raping young boys. Because it's their culture. The Taliban suddenly seem a lot less like the bad guys over there... CorruptUser (talk) 04:18, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Ha! Cultural relativism is...

...silly, shallow, and unable to pass the most basic of thought experiments. In Nigeria gay people are openly despised. In Egypt child marriage is still a thing. A cultural relativist must say to themselves, "I can't call these fellas homophobes or child abusers 'cuz, like, dat would be eThNoCeNtRiC!" Tigerlord (talk) 01:54, 26 August 2019 (UTC)

Uh, I think you're basing your arguments off strawmen. You're using extreme examples of outdated cultural tropes that should have died a long time ago. БaбyЛuigiOнФire🚓^(T|C) 01:58, 26 August 2019 (UTC)

Luigi- One of my examples may be outdated, but my main argument still stands. If you're a cultural relativist, you must not judge other cultures based on the values of your own. That means you can't condemn cultures that violate human rights or oppress its members. BTW, 90% of Nigerians thought homosexuality should be illegal in 2017. Read paragraph 6 of the linked article. 2017 isn't that long ago, so you shouldn't say that example is outdated. Tigerlord (talk) 16:55, 27 August 2019 (UTC)