what Discuss you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each of these three kinds of
relativism
Moral Stance
Moral stance is being able to set aside ones own beliefs in order to better
understand the behaviors, attitudes, actions or any other aspects of the subject society.
Judgment must not be cast based upon the anthropologists own morals and values as this
will inevitably taint the research outcome (Norwak & Laird, 2010)
A strength of arresting ones own social and cultural morals is the insight they
gain by not being in conflict within themselves, therefore unhindered by self-distraction.
The anthropologist can obtain their information untainted and unbiased, gathering
invaluable information on the uniqueness of the subject culture without the worry or fear
of causing insult. If one cannot impose a moral stance, they run the risk of obtaining
corrupt data based on their own internal conflict while possibly imposing their own
social, religious and cultural morals on the worlds many and various societies.
Methodological Strategy
Methodological strategy is the learning of another societys culture via books and
journals before beginning their field study.
With the methodological strategy, I see a strength in having prior knowledge of
not just some of the customs and rituals but also the beliefs of those the anthropologist is
preparing to study in the field. In beginning this way, one can see where studies have
focused on in the past and what is still needed to be learned. Then one can determine the
best course of action and make preparations. One can also note changes that have
occurred and how the culture has changed and why.
The downside to methodological strategy is they are learning from books; while
helpful there is a difference between book learning and applying what is learned.
Depending on the period of when the material was written and when the anthropologist is
planning their expedition many things could have changed and they may still be ill
prepared. The authors of these book and journals may also have placed their
interpretations of their observations due to the fact they may have not had anything to
compare it to for understanding. I could see this as being misleading.
Epistemological Position
Epistemological position is the viewing of each culture as independent and
incomparable to others based on the experiences of that particular society.
The strength in the epistemological position would be the ability to interact with a
society with no preconceived notions of other cultures or civilization around them. This
grants the anthropologist a clean slate to learn of their beliefs, morals, values and culture
through their histories and interactions. This seems best done when isolation has been a
factor.
If the epistemological position is used in a more modern society with interaction
with other social, cultural or influential peoples the results can become jumbled. It is no
longer just their way of life but an adaptation of others in which they interact.
Identify one belief or practice in another culture that you find puzzling, strange, or
troubling, and then discuss the extent that cultural relativism is a useful approach to
understanding and interacting with the people who hold it.
There is a custom in Saudi Arabia that I find puzzling if a bit troubling. In the case
of theft, a thief would have his left hand amputated. There are ways that this can be
avoided, such as the victim granting a pardon or the thief paying restitution before the
trial. While I can see how this punishment would be a deterrent, it is hard for me to
comprehend how these types of punishments came to be.
Discuss the extent that cultural relativism would be a useful approach to understanding
and interacting with people in your won society that did (or do) the same.
When applying cultural relativism we are able to take a step back and try to put off
our own morals and judgments. I think that in using this form of cultural relativism, I can
learn with an open mind as to why a culture would institute such harsh punishments and
the mindset of that culture.
Explore the extent to which weather one is studying in ones own country or in another
makes a difference in the applicability of cultural relativism to ones research.
Being in ones own country and learning of others from books, journals and
possibly interviews with others who have been to, or were part of, that region can give
great insight into the workings of that society. However, I do believe that book learning
differs from actually being there. If one were to be present during rituals or activities,
they get firsthand experience of the emotions, beliefs, actions and responses at the time.
You can obtain a general understanding of new ideas through books but if we become
offended, it is easy to set it aside and not have to deal with it. On the other hand if we
were present during something that would be offending we would have to apply the
cultural relativism or risk causing insult to the host society, and possibly becoming more
of an outsider then we already were. One cannot learn everything from afar, participation
and/or interaction is needed to obtain a full understanding.
Norwak, B., & Laird, P. (2010). Cultural Anthropology. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint
Education, Inc.
Cultural Anthropology gives three distinct meanings of cultural relativism: a moral stance
that requires anthropologists to suspend moral and ethical judgments when interacting
with a culture different from their own, a methodological strategy that allows the
anthropologist to pay specific attention to the uniqueness of a culture, and an
epistemological position that cultures are unique and therefore knowledge about different
cultures is almost inherently not comparable. (Sec. 1.3).
In your forum contribution:
Discuss what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each of these three kinds of
relativism.
Identify one belief or practice in another culture that you find puzzling, strange, or
troubling, and then discuss the extent that cultural relativism is a useful approach to
understanding and interacting with the people who hold it.
Discuss the extent that cultural relativism would be a useful approach to understanding
and interacting with people in your own society that did (or do) the same.
Explore the extent to which whether one is studying in one's own country or in another
makes a difference in the applicability of cultural relativism to one's research.
Your initial response should be at least 150 words in length. Build on the ideas and
terminology in the text and your own ideas to support your answers. Please support your
claims with examples from the text, required and recommended material, and/or
scholarly articles. Respond to at least two of your classmates posts by Day 7.
Ashford 2: - Week 1 - Discussion 1
Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7
(Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your
initial post and the depth of your responses. Reference the Discussion Forum Grading
Rubric for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.
Cultural Relativism
Cultural Anthropology gives three distinct meanings of cultural relativism: a moral stance
that requires anthropologists to suspend moral and ethical judgments when interacting
with a culture different from their own, a methodological strategy that allows the
anthropologist to pay specific attention to the uniqueness of a culture, and an
epistemological position that cultures are unique and therefore knowledge about different
cultures is almost inherently not comparable. (Sec. 1.3).
In your forum contribution:
Discuss what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each of these three kinds of
relativism.
Identify one belief or practice in another culture that you find puzzling, strange, or
troubling, and then discuss the extent that cultural relativism is a useful approach to
understanding and interacting with the people who hold it.
Discuss the extent that cultural relativism would be a useful approach to understanding
and interacting with people in your own society that did (or do) the same.
Explore the extent to which whether one is studying in one's own country or in another
makes a difference in the applicability of cultural relativism to one's research.
Your initial response should be at least 150 words in length. Build on the ideas and
terminology in the text and your own ideas to support your answers. Please support your
claims with examples from the text, required and recommended material, and/or
scholarly articles. Respond to at least two of your classmates posts by Day 7.
Respond
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Responses
Response Author Date/Time*
Cultural Relativism - Discussion 1 Marva Cook 8/15/2012 9:50:06 AM
The three different ways that contemporary uses anthropology cultural relativism are by
taking a moral stance which requires suspending moral and ethical judgments when
interacting with a culture different from their own. Methodological strategy allows us to
pay specific attention to the uniqueness of a culture. Epistemological cultural relativism
allows us to see that cultures are the out come of historical and material processes, and
treats humans as historically explainable products of these processes.
Some of the strengths of cultural relativism is it calls for you to keep an open mind. It
encourages tolerance and respect for all cultures. It allows for equality among cultures.
Some of the weaknesses of cultural relativism: if we accept that all cultures are equal, we
prevent people from advocating against practices that may be detrimental. This would
mean people who are a part of the culture as well as those who are not a part of that
culture.
I had always wondered why people of Iraq tolerated the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.
I couldn't understand why they didn't fight for their rights. I had the opportunity to meet
with some journalists from Iraq and asked that question. As they painted the picture of
life for them under this person, I was really awakened by the horrors they faced if anyone
tried to go against Saddam. I had to eliminate morals and ethics in order to understand
their views. The more talking I did with these journalists, the more I was able to
understand that they didn't have a lot of choices. They had to consider their own lives as
well as the lives of their families. Survival was a daily routine for the people in Iraq. In
the United States, we have more checks and balances and this would not be allowed.
I work with the elderly and I have a large Jewish population. One of the areas I deal with
is having religious services for most of our different denominations. That also includes
our remembrance services for those who have died. The Jewish people don't really
recognize Jesus only God. Personally, I recognize both because of the Old and New
Testaments. I really had to put my personal beliefs aside and learn more about the Jewish
people. I had our Jewish elders teach me about some ot their traditions and what they
meant. We now have Seder dinners, Shabbat services, and recognize other holidays that
are important to this group. It has allowed us to teach other people from different
backgrounds to participate and learn. Relativism has allowed for more open mindedness
and tolerance in understanding other people's traditions and beliefs.
In my opinion, I do believe whether you are studying in your own country or in another
does make a difference in the applicability of cultural relativism to your research. It
seems like it should not, but if you are in your own country, you may have an easier time
with relativism because if you don't agree with something from another culture, it may
not be as big of a deal because you are somewhat protected in your own country. When
you are in someone else's country, you have to abide by their rules or possibly pay a
penalty which may be prison or your life. As I spoke about the people in Iraq, I
understand their position, but if I was in their country and someone was ordering me
around and dealing with me in a way that was not humane or in opposition of my beliefs,
I don't know if I would be disciplined enough to put all that aside. I feel you really need
to do a lot of research and soul searching about other cultures and make sure you can
handle things that are in total opposition of your beliefs and teachings. If not, you may
want to rethink visiting that country.
The more I think on this question, I would also debate it would depend on what you are
researching about in that country. Then the applicability of cultrural relativism may not
come into question.
Respond
Cultural Relativism Maria Mhoon 8/15/2012 10:14:50 AM
Cultural Anthropology gives three distinct meanings of cultural relativism: a moral
stance that requires anthropologists to suspend moral and ethical judgments when
interacting with a culture different from their own, a methodological strategy that allows
the anthropologist to pay specific attention to the uniqueness of a culture, and an
epistemological position that cultures are unique and therefore knowledge about different
cultures is almost inherently not comparable. (Sec. 1.3).
In your forum contribution:
Discuss what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each of these three kinds of
relativism. A strength created by moral stance that requires anthropologist suspend moral
and ethical judgments when interacting with cultures that have different value systems
than their own is first of all having the strength and the ability to do so in the first place.
For example, as written in our text infanticide and cannibalism (Nowak et al, 2010) are
viewed as violations of basic human rights and carry heavy penalties for having a part in
such activity here in America. Healthy Americans care about the health and wellbeing of
others and can be difficult for a healthy American to keep their emotion out of separate
from their work when dealing with such behavior. A weakness that may be experienced
by anthropologists required to deal with cultural differences that are opposite from their
own culture, in my opinion, is learning to get comfortable with the feelings of
numbness and do their job at the same time; especially when dealing with infants or those
who eat one anothers flesh.
A strength of methodological strategy cultural anthropologist may have in paying specific
attention to the uniqueness of a culture is the research process that is required by them in
obtaining as much knowledge and education about a culture prior to any reaction taking
place at all. For example, some cultures have many more colors to describe different
shades of a single color (Nowak, et al, 2010) than Americans do; and doing the required
research beforehand strengthens the knowledgebase of the working cultural
anthropologist before working in cultures other than their own. A weakness of the
methodological strategy for a cultural anthropologist could be in deciding exactly what
color specifically describes the true color as people residing in that culture describe it.
For instance, what we call blue could very well be green in tropical societies (Nowak et
al, 2010).
A strength of epistemological position is in the understanding that the differences that
exist are not by any means comparable to another culture. A weakness of this position for
anthropologists in this area could be in understanding that one culture is no better than
the other just because they cant compare the different value systems held by another
culture or society.
Identify one belief or practice in another culture that you find puzzling, strange, or
troubling, and then discuss the extent that cultural relativism is a useful approach to
understanding and interacting with the people who hold it. Incest is a practice that is
perfectly okay in other cultures that troubles me that some people do not have a problem
with. For example, I feel that once a person is either married or has children with one
person in the family, neither of the two people should become involved with any other
member of that same family. It is not okay for your ex to go and have intimate relations
with your mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, mother-in-law, father-in-law and so on
because this behavior could spark unnecessary reactions and emotions. It is very
unhealthy because envy could spark one to commit acts of violence and malicious crimes
had healthy boundaries been respected in the first place. A useful approach to
understanding and interacting with people who feel that incest is okay would be for one
to keep their significant other private and away from those types of people.
Discuss the extent that cultural relativism would be a useful approach to understanding
and interacting with people in your own society that did (or do) the same. The way that I
have learned to deal with cultural relativism in understanding and interacting with people
in my society is that I no longer bring my private life home to meet my home or allow
anyone to meet my family anymore.
Explore the extent to which whether one is studying in one's own country or in another
makes a difference in the applicability of cultural relativism to one's research. The extent
to which whether on is studying their own country or another makes a difference in the
application of cultural relativism to their research in my opinion is to learn lessons from
the attitudes and behaviors of family and friends from my past which help me to move
forgive, move forward, and be mindful to establish and maintain healthy boundaries right
now and in the future.
Nowak, B., & Laird, P. (2010). Cultural Anthropology. Chapter 1.3 Studying Culture.
San
Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.
Retrieved on August 15, 2012 from Ashford University Online.