In his essay, The Challenge of
Cultural Relativism, James Rachels makes some interesting arguments against
this influential theory. He ultimately says that this idea cannot be held as
true because societies can be factually wrong about information; he uses the
example of societies that regard the Earth as flat. However, he does welcome
Cultural Relativism for its appreciation of other cultures and because it makes
people question the validity of their own country’s actions. I enjoyed the
essay because he was capable of asserting two sides of an argument in a convincing
and thorough manner. Although, I would challenge his idea that there are
certain ethical wrongs that should not be practiced in any society. He used the
example of slavery to defend his point. While I believe slavery to be immoral,
inhumane, and unethical, who’s to say that it actually is? It is Rachels’ own
belief and the general trend of Western modern culture to condemn the practice
of slavery, three hundred years ago it was practiced around the world without
the ethical restraint. It seems as though Rachels is esteeming his own belief
to be superior to that of Pakistanis or Haitians who still practice Slavery in
their countries. Overall this essay provided a lot of insight on a topic that
many Americans struggle with.
This essay reminded me of Waiting
for Godot because it challenges people’s motivations for progress and made
me think of my own importance to the rest of the world. In Waiting for Godot both Vladimir and Estragon frequently question
the purpose of their lives and why they
are waiting for Godot. The essay similarly queries why people feel the need to
better their own society if they already feel that it is greater than every
other culture. Both the essay and the play made me feel very trivial and
insignificant. The play accomplished this through examining the importance of
anything in life. If time, success, love, and happiness are all constructs of
humanity than what is there to life? If we cannot quantify, calculate, or hold
something in a tangible form, then is it real? Consequently, as the essay
explains, our abstract conception of what makes humans humane is dependent on
the society that you were raised in. The success and happiness that I’m living
for would be redefined if I were reared in another country, then what am I? Am
I Hannah because I’m American? As Psychology states, we are
all the combination of nurture and nature so then, does this mean I am the combination
of my society and my parents? Is that my identity? Who am I? What am I?
America asserts their dominant culture in the Middle East but presents it
as social liberation to justify a cruel and bloody war. We enter with promise
of freedom, and maybe a little revenge, but we promise that we are doing this
for the Iraqi People. The Pakistani People. The Irani People. We aren’t doing
this for Oil. For Money. And of course not for Greed. We are democracy, whether
the citizens of these countries want it or not. America believes so strongly
that our culture is better that we are risking the lives of Middle Eastern and
American people to spread our ideas. Our desire for money is so profound that
we have spent over ten years involved in an area that wants nothing to do with
us.
