What is culture?
Has the power over individuals to create beliefs (such as belief in God)-
Emile Durkheim
Is the way of life of a group of people that includes knowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man
as a member of society – Edward Taylor
Complex phenomenon, contains nearly all aspects of shared human
experiences
How does culture affect human
behavior?
Human beings learned to modify
behaviours to match that which
their cultural group deem
acceptable
However, culture served to justify
inequality because the ruling class
determines what is right and wrong
while the rest merely follow
Elements of Culture
Symbols – anything that a group of people find meaningful
Language – a complex symbol that enable human beings to communicate
either verbally or through writing
Beliefs – assumptions or convictions held to be true by an individual or
group of people.
Values – culturally acceptable standards of behaviour.
Norm – informal guideline about what is considered normal or
correct/incorrect social behaviour.
How does culture define Moral
Behaviour?
Three critical elements that influence the
human person’s moral development:
Native traits
Early childhood experience
One’s cultural surroundings
Cultural Relativism
THE CULTURAL DIFFERENCE ARGUMENT
(1) DIFFERENT CULTURES HAVE DIFFERENT MORAL CODES
(2) THEREFORE, THERE IS NO OBJECTIVE “TRUTH” IN
MORALITY. RIGHT AND WRONG ARE ONLY MATTERS OF
OPINION, AND OPINIONS VARY FROM CULTURE TO
CULTURE.
IS THIS SOUND?
It is not sound!
The conclusion does not follow from the premise. The
premise concerns what people believe – in some societies,
people believe one thing; in other societies, people believe
differently. The conclusion, however, concerns what really
is the case.
e.g. earth being flat
The consequences of taking
cultural relativism seriously
We could no longer say that the custom of other societies
are morally inferior to our own (But what of war practices?
Anti-semitism?)
We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by
consulting the standards of our society. (But what about of
racism?)
The idea of moral progress is called into doubt. (So what to
say of our notion of reform?)
Why then are people reluctant
to criticize other cultures
We could notice that there is a difference between (a)
judging a cultural practice to be deficient, and (b) thinking
that we should announce the fact, conduct a campaign,
apply diplomatic pressure, or send in the army.
People feel that they should be tolerant . But there is
nothing in that nature of tolerance that requires you to say
that all beliefs, all religions, and all social practices are
equally admirable. On the contrary, if you did not think that
some were better than others, there would be nothing for
you to tolerate.
People may be reluctant to judge
because they do not want to express
contempt for the society being
criticized. To condemn a particular
practice is not to say that the culture
is on the whole contemptible or that
it is generally inferior to any other
culture, including one’s own.
Why there is less disagreement
than it seems
The difference is in our belief systems, not in our values. If
only we will look closely, there are more similarities than
differences.
Other values must be more or less universal (e.g. truth-
telling).
There are some moral rules that all societies must have in
common, because those rules are necessary for society to
exist
What can be learned from
cultural relativism
Cultural relativism warns us, quite rightly, about the danger
of assuming that all our preferences are based on some
absolute rational standard. They are not. Many of our
practices are merely peculiar to our society.
It teaches us to have an open mind. Cultural relativism, by
stressing that our moral view can reflect the prejudices of
our society, provides an antidote for dogmatism.
BANDWAGON
A trend that is so cool everyone wants to get in on it. If you
start wearing a powerpot on your head because everyone
else is, you’ve jumped on a strange fashion.
Bandwagon effect is the tendency for people to adopt
certain behaviors, styles, or attitudes simply because others
are doing so. More specifically, it isa cognitive bias by
which public opinion or behaviors can alter due to particular
actions and beliefs rallying amongst the public.
HERD MENTALITY
Known also as mob mentality/hive – is the inclination that
some humans have to be part of a large group, often
neglecting their individual feelings in the process and
adopting the behaviors and actions of the people around
them.