Assignment #6

PART ONE

QUESTION #1: If an action that is praised in one culture may be condemned in another, would it be correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in?

ANSWER 1A:

The core of the World’s problem this question is. (a little play on Yoda) The World today is at odds, different cultures trying to influence and overpower each other with their own superior cultural moral values. All we have to do is turn on the television and flip a couple of channels; before we run across a news story depicting an example of this. Our county is at war with terrorism, terrorism is caused by terrorists. Who are terrorists? The simple answer is on who inflicts terror, however the terrorists see themselves as liberators. They are liberating the infidels from their own terrible existence. In the process the liberator will be granted heavenly rewards. So, I feel that the question posed before me can be answered as, Yes. Yes, moral values are relative to their respective cultures.

ANSWER 1B:

AI: Whether or not it is correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in.
P: Each culture has its own moral values
P: Moral values that differ from the norm of the culture are sometimes viewed in distain
P: As culture evolves moral values evolve as well
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C: Therefore, it is correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in

QUESTION #2: Isn’t it a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures or to claim that one culture is better than another?

ANSWER 2A:

Throughout history cultures have passed judgment to the fact one culture is superior to another. I do not feel that it is a mark of ignorance to pass judgment over another culture. To have a mark of ignorance we would need a mark of intelligence to create a contrast. With that where does the mark of intelligence come from, who sets the mark? Does the mark of intelligence live within our own culture? By passing judgment are we walking to the edge of morally reasoning and jumping off into the unknown? Oh to answer a question with more questions. This country was founded by a group of people who viewed there beliefs, culture, better than that of their country. A culture within a culture, if they did not pass judgment against England the United Stated of America would not exist .

ANSWER 2B:

AI: Whether or not it is a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures or to claim that one culture is better than another.
P: We do not an agreed upon mark for what intelligence truly is.
P: To pass judgment on another culture is no different from passing judgment on a criminal.
P: Passing judgments does not mean to pass a negative judgment.
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C: Therefore, it is not a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures.


PART TWO

In ancient Rome, Sparta, and China unwanted children were abandoned to die. This practice is considered by most of the moral views of this country today as an unimaginable act. However, this was the practice of a culture and the culture viewed this to be morally acceptable. These cultures were trying to weed out the weak. To put the old adage in more macabre light a cultures chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Their focus was on physical strength for the men and the ability to bear more healthy warriors for the women. At a glance the elders would decide if the child fit into this mold, albeit a very harsh and unforgiving mold, if not a one way ticket to the afterlife awaited the infant. As mentioned above the ability to pass judgment onto another culture and what it considers morally acceptable is, in my opinion is futile at best. These cultures tossed out human life in the pursuit of physical strength but most likely they tossed out the children who had the intellectual aptitude to foster a great nation, we will never know but I can speculate.


Arguable issue: Whether or not it is morally acceptable to abandoned unwanted children to die.
P: The value of human life is not being preserved (value life itself)
P: The intelligence of the culture may suffer (the value of knowledge)
P: Passing judgment at a glance doesn’t allow for true analysis (valuing accuracy)
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C: Therefore, unwanted children should not be abandoned to die.