HSS 4107 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Ruthless People, Factual Relativism, Moral Relativism
1 Nov 2016
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Relativism: 1. examples of cultures that differ 2. moral relativism (nihilism) 3. strong relativism: epistemic relativism 5. five tenets of cultural relativism (rebuttals)--james rachels. Had a rule against killing other tribe members. Classified them as hippos; placed them in the water and if they drowned they died by natural causes. Flood waters forced health care workers to make difficult decisions regarding the lives of their patients. Let them suffer or euthanize them; chose the path with less suffering. Came up with the idea of forced abandonment; in the army it is called battlefield euthanasia. Callations ate the bodies of their dead fathers while the greeks cremated their bodies. Each culture was disgusted by the other. Moral relativism: different cultures have different moral practices. This does not work in public policies; has to be limits. Relativism does not mean we go haywire with our policies. Epistemic relativism: different cultures have different points of view/ value systems.
