Running head: Cultural Relativism 1
Cultural Relativism and Moral Action
Joshua Paul
Chamberlain College of Nursing
ETHC: Principles of Ethics
November 2020
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, CULTURAL RELATIVISM 2
Cultural Relativism and Moral Action
In this situation, my friend’s brother found out that he had a tumor on his head and
needed to be removed. My friend and his whole family practice a religion called Sikhism, and
within this religion, they are not allowed to cut their hair. This is an important part of their
religion as many Sikhs interpret the keeping of their hair or “kesh” as a sign of commitment and
acceptance of God’s Will (Sikh Coalition, 2020). Even though the tumor was small, they still
needed to do a procedure to take it out before it caused brain damage. This was only possible if
he and his family were okay with going against their beliefs. This was an extremely hard
decision because they were all so involved and strongly believed in their practices.
Subjective Moral Relativist
Lisa Newton states that a subjective moral relativist “declares that each person is his own
authority on the moral life, and source of his own moral principles” (Newton, 2016). This
basically says that each individual determines what is right and wrong in their life, and that their
individual experiences is what determines the foundation of their morals. A subjective moral
relativist in this situation would say that the procedure depends on the patient. If he wanted to do
the procedure and ignore his religion practices for this instant, then he should do it and vice
versa.
Cultural Relativist
Cultural Relativism can be described as “the view that ethical and social standards reflect
the cultural context from which they are derived” (Carnegie Council, 2016). In simpler terms this
states that a cultural relativist obtains their morals and ethics from the religion and culture that
they were born and raised into. A cultural relativist in this situation would say to follow the
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, CULTURAL RELATIVISM 3
patients and his parents’ religious practices, and not cut the hair. This would obviously cause
complications along the way and be potentially fatal for the patient.
Confronting the Dilemma
In the end, my friends brother ended up going through with the procedure because
he wanted to live his life out. This decision was a hard subject to bring up with his parents as
they were all so connected to their religion, but he was able to reach an understanding with his
parents. His moral justification is that God would want him to save his life and be a better
person. He said that if God really thought it was his time to go, then he would not have given
him an option out of his situation, and he saw that as an opportunity to get healthy and be a better
human being. I believe that the objectively moral thing to do, was to have the surgery and save
his life. If the tumor developed and caused further complications it would have led to a difficult
life and possible death. I do not completely agree with the reasoning of cultural relativism as
sometimes it suggests us to look at other humans with a negative connotation because they were
born differently. In this situation, if he had stuck to his religious practices, he might not have
been alive with us today.
This study source was downloaded by 100000841990434 from CourseHero.com on 03-19-2022 15:20:16 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/77630207/Week-1-assignment-Cultural-Relativism-and-Moral-Actiondocx/
, CULTURAL RELATIVISM 4
References
Cultural Relativism. (2016). Retrieved November 07, 2020, from
https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/education/001/terms/00001
“FAQ.” Sikh Coalition, www.sikhcoalition.org/about-sikhs/faq/
Newton, L. (2016). Retrieved November 07, 2020, from
https://www.rit.edu/cla/ethics/resources/manuals/dgae1p4.html
Rachels, S., & Rachels, J. (2019). The elements of moral philosophy (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill
Education.
This study source was downloaded by 100000841990434 from CourseHero.com on 03-19-2022 15:20:16 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/77630207/Week-1-assignment-Cultural-Relativism-and-Moral-Actiondocx/
Cultural Relativism and Moral Action
Joshua Paul
Chamberlain College of Nursing
ETHC: Principles of Ethics
November 2020
This study source was downloaded by 100000841990434 from CourseHero.com on 03-19-2022 15:20:16 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/77630207/Week-1-assignment-Cultural-Relativism-and-Moral-Actiondocx/
, CULTURAL RELATIVISM 2
Cultural Relativism and Moral Action
In this situation, my friend’s brother found out that he had a tumor on his head and
needed to be removed. My friend and his whole family practice a religion called Sikhism, and
within this religion, they are not allowed to cut their hair. This is an important part of their
religion as many Sikhs interpret the keeping of their hair or “kesh” as a sign of commitment and
acceptance of God’s Will (Sikh Coalition, 2020). Even though the tumor was small, they still
needed to do a procedure to take it out before it caused brain damage. This was only possible if
he and his family were okay with going against their beliefs. This was an extremely hard
decision because they were all so involved and strongly believed in their practices.
Subjective Moral Relativist
Lisa Newton states that a subjective moral relativist “declares that each person is his own
authority on the moral life, and source of his own moral principles” (Newton, 2016). This
basically says that each individual determines what is right and wrong in their life, and that their
individual experiences is what determines the foundation of their morals. A subjective moral
relativist in this situation would say that the procedure depends on the patient. If he wanted to do
the procedure and ignore his religion practices for this instant, then he should do it and vice
versa.
Cultural Relativist
Cultural Relativism can be described as “the view that ethical and social standards reflect
the cultural context from which they are derived” (Carnegie Council, 2016). In simpler terms this
states that a cultural relativist obtains their morals and ethics from the religion and culture that
they were born and raised into. A cultural relativist in this situation would say to follow the
This study source was downloaded by 100000841990434 from CourseHero.com on 03-19-2022 15:20:16 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/77630207/Week-1-assignment-Cultural-Relativism-and-Moral-Actiondocx/
, CULTURAL RELATIVISM 3
patients and his parents’ religious practices, and not cut the hair. This would obviously cause
complications along the way and be potentially fatal for the patient.
Confronting the Dilemma
In the end, my friends brother ended up going through with the procedure because
he wanted to live his life out. This decision was a hard subject to bring up with his parents as
they were all so connected to their religion, but he was able to reach an understanding with his
parents. His moral justification is that God would want him to save his life and be a better
person. He said that if God really thought it was his time to go, then he would not have given
him an option out of his situation, and he saw that as an opportunity to get healthy and be a better
human being. I believe that the objectively moral thing to do, was to have the surgery and save
his life. If the tumor developed and caused further complications it would have led to a difficult
life and possible death. I do not completely agree with the reasoning of cultural relativism as
sometimes it suggests us to look at other humans with a negative connotation because they were
born differently. In this situation, if he had stuck to his religious practices, he might not have
been alive with us today.
This study source was downloaded by 100000841990434 from CourseHero.com on 03-19-2022 15:20:16 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/77630207/Week-1-assignment-Cultural-Relativism-and-Moral-Actiondocx/
, CULTURAL RELATIVISM 4
References
Cultural Relativism. (2016). Retrieved November 07, 2020, from
https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/education/001/terms/00001
“FAQ.” Sikh Coalition, www.sikhcoalition.org/about-sikhs/faq/
Newton, L. (2016). Retrieved November 07, 2020, from
https://www.rit.edu/cla/ethics/resources/manuals/dgae1p4.html
Rachels, S., & Rachels, J. (2019). The elements of moral philosophy (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill
Education.
This study source was downloaded by 100000841990434 from CourseHero.com on 03-19-2022 15:20:16 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/77630207/Week-1-assignment-Cultural-Relativism-and-Moral-Actiondocx/
