FREE ESSAY ON IS MORALITY RELATIVE? - BENEDICT AND RACHELS

IS MORALITY RELATIVE? - BENEDICT AND RACHELS

Is morality relative? Ruth Benedict and James Rachels have opposing views on this
conroversial question. Benedict, a foremost American anthropologist who taught at
Columbia University (Pojman 370) believes that morality is relative to one's culture and
that one's behavior which is deemed moral or immoral is dependent upon cultural norms.
Her argument is as such:
1. Different cultures have radically different moral codes
2. There are no objective moral principles i.e. all moral principles are culturally
relative
Rachels, a professor at the University of Alabama (Pojman 375) disagrees with Benedict
and believes that morality is not relative. Furthermore he holds Benedicts Cultural
differences argument to be invalid.
One who sides with Bendedict would also agree with a quote from her book Patterns of 
Culture that morality differs in every society and is a convenient term for socially
approved habits. This quote seems logical, simply stated it means cultures approve of
rituals and beliefs that the entire society shares. Society defines what is moral at a
certain point in time. Morality is adaptive and can shange over time, however it is still
dependent upon its culture to decide whether it is accepted or not accepted. For example,
in the early twentieth century, pre-marital sex was considered a huge sin and looked down
upon with disgrace. A person's entire character was jeopordized if they had participated
in pre-marital sex. Today however, although pre-marital sex is not considered virtuous,
society does not cast aside those who have sex before marriage. It is considered normal
as a matter of fact to have several partners before marriage, that is , if you even
decide to get married (another topic that has lost importance over time).
Certain cultural norms may change over time, however using the same example (pre-marital)
some cultures are just radically different. For instance, some African tribes are known
to sew a woman's vagina closed when she is young to prevent her from being able to have
intercourse before she is married.; If she is not sytill sewn shut on her wedding night,
she is cast out and considered a filthy whore. 
To our culture, this seem entirely too drastic, but to those tribes, this is a ritual
that has been practiced throughout their history and is considered a rite of passage when
a girl reaches puberty.
Benedicts also gives an example to further prove her point that morality and or normality
is culturally relative. She gives the example of a man in a Melanesian society who was
referred to as silly and simple and definitely crfazy because he liked to share and to
help people and do nice things for them. In the United States , these are virtuous
qualities. If you are stingy and not helpful you are looked down upon, but in this
contrasting society, to share and be helpful is so disgraceful that one is ridiculed for
possessing thaose traits or even condemned for them.
One who believes that morality is relative could give further example of traits that are
despised in one culture but admired in a different culture. History and evolution provide
codes of what is accepted in a culture, things such as sorcery, homosexuality, polygamy,
male dominance, euthanasia, these things are completely dependant upon its society to
define its morality.
One who opposes the Cultural Differences Argument would believe that morality is not
relative and is shared throughout all cultures. He/she would agree with Rachels, stating
that the Cultural Differences Argument is invalid becasuse premis number one, which
states that different cultures have radically different moral codes is wrong because the
differences are not radical, and there are universal truths. One could point out that all
societies have an inate tendency to care for their young and other young in general, or
that murder is not accepted in any culture.
One could also argue that using the prusit of truth as an example will show that morality
is not relative. Instead, universal morality exists, but not all cultres are aware of it.
Rachels gives the example that some societies believe thayt the earth is flat, however we
bleieve that the earth is round. Rachels uses this to show that the underlying fact is
simply that they disagree. He further states there is no reason to thing that if the
world is round everyone must know it. Similarly , there is no reason to thing that if
there is moral truth everyone must know it.