Deck 2: Ethical Relativism

Question 1

James Rachels supports the theory of cultural relativism.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

As Rachels notes, even if the Cultural Differences Argument is invalid, cultural relativism might still be true.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

According to Rachels, if cultural relativism were true, all social reforms such as Martin Luther King Jr. would be automatically wrong.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

As Rachels notes, if cultural relativism were true, we could no longer say that the United States is morally better today having abolished slavery than when the institution of slavery was legal.

Question 5

According to Rachels, if cultural relativism were true, we could not criticize practices such as female genital mutilation and honor killing.

Question 6

Rachels notes that from the fact that cultures have different practices it follows that cultures have different values.

Question 7

Rachels rejects cultural relativism, arguing instead that all cultures have some values in common.

Question 8

Rachels notes that many cultures place no value on truth telling.

Question 9

Rachels argues that cultural relativism is so patently false that nothing can be learned from it.

Question 10

Rachels argues that if we reject cultural relativism we are forced to adopt ethnocentrism; since ethnocentrism is clearly immoral, cultural relativism must be true.

Question 11

Which of the following is an example of cultural diversity discussed by Rachels?

A) Honor killing in Pakistan
B) Poppy farmers in Afghanistan
C) Selling children into piracy in Somalia
D) Funeral practices of the Greeks and the Callatians

Question 12

Which of the following most accurately captures the theory of cultural relativism?

A) Different societies have different moral codes.
B) The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society.
C) There is no objective standards that can be used to judge one society's code better than another's.
D) All of the above

Question 13

In explaining the argument for cultural relativism, Rachels points out that the Eskimos and Americans have different views on this practice.

A) Honor killing
B) Arranged marriage
C) Infanticide
D) The role of women in society

Question 14

Rachels notes that the Cultural Differences Argument is not sound. What does this mean?

A) The premise of the argument is false.
B) The conclusion does not follow from the premise.
C) There is a suppressed premise.
D) All of the above

Question 15

One way to criticize a theory is to ask what would it be like if it were true. What would it be like if cultural relativism were true?

A) We could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior to our own.
B) We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our society.
C) The idea of moral progress is called into doubt.
D) All of the above

Question 16

Rachels argues that all societies have some values in common. What example does Rachels use to make this claim?

A) There has never been a society that has lasted for a significant period of time where men are honored for running away in battle.
B) All societies have some general prescription for providing for the needs of the young.
C) Cleanliness is a universally shared value, arising out of the biological risk of disease.
D) All of the above

Question 17

Cultural relativism places a ban on criticizing the practices of other cultures. Rachels argues that sometimes the right thing to do is to criticize the practices of other cultures. What example does Rachels give in arguing this point?

A) Female genital mutilation
B) Arranged marriage of children under the age of 12
C) Honor killing
D) All of the above

Question 18

What can be learned from cultural relativism?

A) The theory warms us, correctly, about the danger of assuming that all our preferences are based on some absolute rational standard.
B) The theory forces us to distinguish between fact and opinion.
C) The theory confronts us with the need to question the standards of our own society.
D) The theory draws a sharp distinction between anthropology and philosophy.

Question 19

The first lesson that we can learn from Cultural Relativism is __________

A) A warning that all of our preferences are based on some absolute rational standard
B) A warning that all of our laws are based on Kantian morality
C) A warning not to assume that all of our preferences are based on some absolute rational standard
D) A warning not to assume that all of our laws are based on Kantian morality

Question 20

The second lesson that Rachels believes cultural relativism teaches has to do with __________.

A) Cultural norms
B) Objective morality
C) Keeping an open mind
D) Working towards a closed mind

Question 21

Rachels notes that cultural relativism is based on a genuine insight. What is this insight?

A) Ethical objectivism need not entail ethnocentrism.
B) Cultural relativism denies the existence of God.
C) Many of the practices and attitudes we think so natural are really only cultural products.
D) All of the above

Question 22

State the theory of cultural relativism.

Question 23

Rachels notes that if cultural relativism were true, we could no longer criticize the practices of other cultures. What do you think about a moral theory that says we cannot criticize practices such as honor killing, female genital mutilation and child sex slavery?

Question 24

Rachels notes that if cultural relativism were true, we could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our society. Do you think societal standards or majority rule is an infallible guide to moral truth? What do you think of a moral theory that says murdering millions of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Pols and Catholics is morally permissible just in case the majority of people in society approve of such behavior?

Question 25

Rachels notes that if ethical relativism were true, the idea of moral progress is called into doubt. Do you think society is better off today as a result of social movements such as the Civil Rights Movement and Women's Suffrage? What do you think about a moral theory that denies that the Civil Rights Movement and Women's Suffrage represent genuine advancements in human rights?

Question 26

Cultural relativism and ethnocentrism are opposite sides of a continuum. What do you think lies at the middle point between the two?