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Craig White's Literature Courses Terms / Themes
Cultural Relativism, |
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Cultural relativism is a principle that nearly everyone practices here and there in judging actions according to their contexts.
For instance, killing another person is wrong, but killing another person may appear justified in the context of self-defense.
Despite the prevalence of such thinking, "cultural relativism" can become inflammatory in American culture wars between red and blue or right-wing and left-wing America.
Cultural Relativism can become a derogatory description of lukewarm commitments or wishy-washy principles, in contrast to clear-cut differences between right and wrong.
Clear-cut differences or decisions may be described as eternal or universal truths, or fundamentalism, and can be defended philosophically.
Compare to evolution, everything's related, attitudes evolve.
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