Cultural Relativism vs Absolutism
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
Cultural Relativism vs. Absolutism
Cultural relativism is the belief that right and wrong vary from one society to another and from one time to another. It is the belief that what is right for one person is not necessarily right for another person. The cultural relativist observes that some things that are considered wrong today, such as slavery, were not always considered wrong and are not always considered wrong in other societies today. From this they conceive that right and wrong must be relative, and that absolute right and wrong do not exist.
The absolutist, on the other hand, believes that what is right or wrong is always right or wrong whether or not a society recognizes it as such at the time. For example, when an absolutist believes that life begins at conception, it becomes obvious to him or her that abortion is the taking of a human life and is, therefore, wrong.
During the founding of America, absolutists clearly held sway. Many of the writers of the Constitution firmly believed in an absolute standard for right and wrong. John Adams once wrote:
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion...