Ethan Miller

Hi Klara, I completely agree with what you have written. The argument that since different cultures have different moral codes, there is no 100% truth on what is right and wrong is completely dismantled by the example of a geocentric and heliocentric models and how we know that the earth revolves around the sun even though some cultures may believe otherwise. Even though they believe it, it doesn't make it true. Another example that I'm quite fond if is the round vs. flat earth debate. While some cultures may believe the earth to be flat, even though we know that it is round, cultural relativism would argue that we cannot declare that the flat-earth ideology is false. I also agree with the statement that through cultural relativism, societies cannot make moral advancements. Since relativism argues that anything in someone's culture is correct for them, no moral advances would be made as nothing would be seen as needed for change. An example I've seen throughout my life is the social acceptance of homosexuals. Prior to my life and in my early years, homosexuals were looked down upon, but as a culture we have morally advanced and no longer look down upon homosexuals. With a relativist mindset, looking down upon homosexuals would have never been labeled as wrong in the first place and there would have been no moral advance to accept them.