Debates: A Holistic Perspective...

[RSK]

...well, I feel guilty as crap right now. Because I spent time trying to perfect a thread, that had so many flaws in it's contents...

...I was basically in support of something called, cultural relativism, without knowing what it REALLY IS.





After reading this, I got a different perspective:

[url]http://www.cyberessays.com/Politics/106.htm[/url]

[vashti]

Cultural relativism has been discounted as a moral philosophy. It discounts right and wrong to a matter of opinion, each being as valid as the next. This is obviously not true, as is evidenced in Nazi Germany. Cultural Relativism would argue that anti-Semitism and the murder of Jews is not wrong.

You are correct about the value of debate, though.

[RSK]

Cultural relativism has been discounted as a moral philosophy. It discounts right and wrong to a matter of opinion, each being as valid as the next. This is obviously not true, as is evidenced in Nazi Germany. Cultural Relativism would argue that anti-Semitism and the murder of Jews is not wrong.

You are correct about the value of debate, though.

WOW. You are absolutely right.

I took a class in Anthropological Perspectives two Semesters ago. And my professor taught us about Worldviews, and how differences can arise...

...he gave us the example of the Native Americans like above.

I wish I told him what you just wrote above. I really don't have any explanation for that at all! WOW.

I guess I didn't think hard enough! WOW.

WOW.

Well, you are certainly right.

But to be fair to my professor, he never used the world Cultural Relativism, he kept going on about Worldviews...

...but this still doesn't support the example you gave above. Well, somethings are just plain WRONG...

...and that's one of them.


EDIT: [url]http://www.cyberessays.com/Politics/106.htm[/url]
(an interesting read)

[RSK]

Okay, I just went through some old notes, and realized what my Nutty professor was trying to get at:

The class was called, Health and Illness: An Anthropological Perspective.

We spent the first half of the semester, learning about Worldviews.

I looked up the definition of Worldview from dictionary.com,

worldview
The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.
A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.

The above definition, fits well with the Native American thing I was talking about in the OP. Why they believe what they do about rainfall...



Basically, IN MEDICINE, it's important to understand Worldviews, so that Doctors can provide better health care for people from various cultural backgrounds.


Here's the ACTUAL paper we had to study: Leprosy among the Limba: illness and healing in the context of world view.

[url]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=874510 4&dopt=Abstract[/url]




I guess I tried to 'STRETCH' what I learned in class, to 'debates'. It just doesn't work.

[vashti]

That's okay RSK. Lots of people try to use cultural relativism as a worldview in the name of political correctness, and in many, many cases it works.

[Mish]

Interesting article RK, thanks for posting it

I find it funny though whenever I read quotes such as this "the American and British soldiers had won and Hitler's Third Reich was no more."

As we all know it was only Americans and British who defeated the Nazis and noone else was involved in that particular victory

[G-TEX]

As we all know it was only Americans and British who defeated the Nazis and noone else was involved in that particular victory

I don't want to start any political discussion right now, but ARE KIDDING Mishanya ??? How good DO You know history, I mean that It IS wrong !!!!!!

[RSK]

I don't want to start any political discussion right now, but ARE KIDDING Mishanya ??? How good DO You know history, I mean that It IS wrong !!!!!!

I think it's pretty obvious that MISH was kidding...

...Russia helped too!!!!!!!!!!



And that's all I can think of now..........



Vot about zee Fraanch ???




Oh yeah, those guys too! Definately a 'PLUS' when you have them our our side...........

[alice]

Vot about zee Fraanch ???




Oh yeah, those guys too! Definately a 'PLUS' when you have them our our side...........

the french never are on any side but their own. they're altogether quite an arrogant bunch.

[G-TEX]

RSK Thanks.
Mishanya sorry.
"...Russia helped too!!!!!!!!!!" , but not helped , ok , Took whole east front !
+ + + = Unity = Peace = LF
( hmmm, shit , Some kind of patriotic mood. )

[MVPlaya]

Cultural relativism has been discounted as a moral philosophy. It discounts right and wrong to a matter of opinion, each being as valid as the next. This is obviously not true, as is evidenced in Nazi Germany. Cultural Relativism would argue that anti-Semitism and the murder of Jews is not wrong.

You are correct about the value of debate, though.

Tell me Vashti, what is right and what is wrong?

[MVPlaya]

As a matter of personal experience those who discount ideas of moral relativism or rely upon some absolutist hierarchy of right and good only evaluate actions from within a deterministic internal framework and never have a deontological view that extends beyond the self and beyond their culture. Quite ironic.

[vashti]

MVP - Why would that be ironic? To adopt a set of philosophical principles, one would most likely have to have been exposed to them, and that normally happens through cultural experiences, don't you think?

Anyway, although I tend to be more of a fan of Kant as far as philosophical views than cultural relativism, I did state above that for the most part, cultural relativism works. I have yet to study a philosophy that doesn't have at least one glaring problem with it.

You aren't seriously going to argue that if a culture begins murdering its own people, that would be okay, are you?

[Only-virgins]

Cultural relativism has been discounted as a moral philosophy. It discounts right and wrong to a matter of opinion, each being as valid as the next. This is obviously not true, as is evidenced in Nazi Germany. Cultural Relativism would argue that anti-Semitism and the murder of Jews is not wrong.

LoL, I don't think so. The Nazi events are not wrong, they are wrong in the perspective of a "not" nazi. Too Nazi's it felt like they were doing the right thing. Cultural relativism is every real. Its the only real.

Its all relative. Nazi holocaust sucks, if your jewish hahahaha. To me it was just population control. I could not care either way. I'm not a Nazi and I am not jews, I would be the guy who would just sit back and watch the bully beat the kid up, with some popcorn.

[Only-virgins]

As we all know it was only Americans and British who defeated the Nazis and noone else was involved in that particular victory

Russia gets the credit for destroying there forces in their harsh winters. Americans landed on a beach and took all the credit lol. When Americans decided to "help", Germany was already in ruins.