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Arguments Against The Relativists Theory - Term Papers

Arguments Against The Relativists Theory



The year was 1943. Hundreds of Jewish people were being marched into
the gas chambers in accordance with Adolf Hitler's orders. In the two
years that followed, millions of Jews were killed and only a fraction
survived the painful ordeals at the Nazi German prison camps. However, all
of the chaos ended as World War II came to a close: the American and
British soldiers had won and Hitler's Third Reich was no more. A certain
ethical position would state that the anti-sematic Nazi German culture was
neither right nor wrong in its actions. In fact, it is this view of the
cultural relativist that assumes all actions considered right in a culture
to be good for that culture alone. Moreover, ...

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The first logical consequence of relativism is that the believer must
contradict himself in order to uphold his belief. The view states that all
ethics are relative while putting forth the idea that no absolute standard
of rightness exists. If this is the case, then what is cultural relativism
relative to? From a purely logical point of view, this idea is absurd, for
in assuming that something is relative one must first have some absolute by
which it is judged. Let the reader consider this example to reinforce the
point. A young woman is five feet tall, and her older friend is six feet
tall. The younger female considers herself short because she looks at her
friend and sees that she is taller than her. It would be illogical to say
that the first woman is short if she were the only female in existence; if
this were the case then there would not be anyone for her to be relative to
in height. However, this logical fallacy is what the relativist assumes ...

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too often. According to the relativist, since
the two cultures disagree concerning the practice of sunning there is no
objective truth about it. However, this is a faulty conclusion because
empirical evidence shows that the first culture would be wrong in its
beliefs. In truth, one cannot "derive a substantive conclusion about a
subject (morally) from the mere fact that people disagree about it.3"

Having discussed the logical consequences of relativism, it is
necessary to expound upon the effects of its practice. The first of these
repercussions is that the culture determines what is functionally right and
wrong. This means that the individual has no say in the matter, and ...

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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 12/23/2003 10:19:49 PM
Category: Social Issues
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 2299
Pages: 9

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