PHIL 1100H Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Cultural Relativism, James Rachels

• School: Trent University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 1100H
• Professor: Norlock Kathryn

Document Summary

Reading: the challenge of cultural relativism" by james rachels. Challenges our ordinary belief in the objectivity and universality of moral truth. There is no such thing as universal truth in ethics, there are only the various cultural codes and nothing more. Our own code has no special status; it is just one among many. A theory about the nature of morality. We should adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures. These lead thinkers to believe that cultural relativism is false, because you can condemn some other cultures" practices. Because they are necessary for societies to exist.