Back نسبية ثقافية Arabic Kulturní relativismus Czech Kulturrelativisme Danish Kulturrelativismus German Πολιτισμικός σχετικισμός Greek Kultura relativismo Esperanto Relativismo cultural Spanish Eetiline relativism Estonian نسبیگرایی فرهنگی Persian Kulttuurirelativismi Finnish
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Cultural relativism is the view that concepts and moral values must be understood in their own cultural context and not judged according to the standards of a different culture.[1][2] It asserts the equal validity of all points of view and the relative nature of truth, which is determined by an individual or their culture.[3]
The concept was established by anthropologist Franz Boas, who first articulated the idea in 1887: "civilization is not something absolute, but ... is relative, and ... our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes".[4] However, Boas did not use the phrase "cultural relativism". The concept was spread by Boas' students, such as Robert Lowie.
The first use of the term recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary was by philosopher and social theorist Alain Locke in 1924 to describe Lowie's "extreme cultural relativism", found in the latter's 1917 book Culture and Ethnology.[5]
The term became common among anthropologists after Boas' death in 1942, to express their synthesis of a number of ideas he had developed. Boas believed that the sweep of cultures, to be found in connection with any subspecies, is so vast and pervasive that there cannot be a relationship between culture and race.[6] Cultural relativism involves specific epistemological and methodological claims. Whether or not these claims necessitate a specific ethical stance is a matter of debate. Cultural relativism became popularized after World War II in reaction to historical events such as "Nazism, and to colonialism, ethnocentrism and racism more generally."[7]
- ^ Chandrashekhar, Riti (2023), Shackelford, Todd K. (ed.), "Cultural Relativism", Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–2, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_765-1, ISBN 978-3-031-08956-5, retrieved 2024-11-27
- ^ Kirch, Wilhelm, ed. (2008), "Cultural Relativism", Encyclopedia of Public Health, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 188–188, doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_636, ISBN 978-1-4020-5614-7, retrieved 2024-11-27
- ^ Reichert, Elisabeth (2015-01-01), Wright, James D. (ed.), "Human Rights and Social Work", International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition), Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 353–359, ISBN 978-0-08-097087-5, retrieved 2024-11-27
- ^ Boas, Franz. 1887. "Museums of Ethnology and their classification." Science 9:589.
- ^ Lowie, Robert. 1917. Culture and Ethnology. New York: Douglas C. McMurtrie.
- ^ Glazer, Mark (December 16, 1994). "Cultural Relativism". Texas: University of Texas-Pan American. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved June 13, 2007.
- ^ Giuliana B. Prato (2016). Beyond Multiculturalism: Views from Anthropology. Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 9781317174677.