Cultural Relativism- November

Cultural Relativism

 

Is one culture correct in their morals and beliefs and another wrong? If so, who decides which culture is correct? I personally do not believe that one culture is more accurate than another. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A person's ability to make judgments is biased around the culture in which they were raised. For example, a 60 degree day in New York is considered gorgeous. If you were in Florida on a 60 degree day, however, you would see locals wrapped up head to toe. Both groups of people were in 60 degree weather, but since they were raised in different environments, they respond to the same temperature in different ways. This frame of mind is true for cultures as well. No two cultures are exactly the same, thus there customs will more then likely not be alike. Since every culture is viewed differently, there is no telling if one culture is correct and another is not.

 

This topic is discussed in James Rachel's article, "The Challenge of Cultural Relativism." He discusses how cultures cannot be compared because people are biased to the culture they are raised in. He uses Eskimo practices as an example. In their culture, it is very common to kill infants, resulting in a high rate of infanticide. In our culture, we find this horrifying and immoral, whereas in Eskimo culture it is exactly the opposite. They live with a lack of resources, thus they occasionally find it necessary to kill their infants to provide for the family they already have. In an Eskimo's eyes this practice is perfectly logical. Just because one culture disapproves of another culture does not mean it is incorrect.

 

Many wars were started from intolerance of other's cultures. For example, during World War II, Hitler was intolerant of the Jewish practices. Instead of agreeing to disagree, he viewed the culture he was raised in as superior to that of others. Rather than respecting other people's beliefs, he took it upon himself to "fix" the Jews. Hitler does not exemplify the frame of mind that James Rachel was trying to get across. I believe people of different cultures should be tolerant of one another because no one has the right to declare another culture as incorrect.

Fate-October

Fate

 

Is there such a thing as fate? This is a very controversial topic in the media world. Are our actions and decisions already made for us by a greater power or do we have free will? I personally believe in a mix between the two. I believe that everything happens for a reason. Even when something negative occurs it is because God was keeping something worse from happening, given he has a plan for us. I believe that we have the power of choice, but God already knows the choices we are going to make, thus even though we are making day to day decisions, our choices are part of a larger plan. Another aspect of fate I believe in is that the decisions of others impact our own lives. Human interaction plays a large part in our perspectives on live and allows different opportunities to come our way. Since human lives are so tightly linked, any decision will alter another's life in some way. While I believe that our paths can be altered by others, I trust that our lives are monitored and planned out by God. Fate is a very tricky subject since it involves religious beliefs, which is why I believe in a mix between free will and a fated path by God.

 

In a story we read this month, Oedipus, the characters struggle to defy their prophesized fates. Ironically, even though they try to escape, their fates continue to happen in unexpected ways. For example, Oedipus' fate is to kill his father and marry his mother. Even though he is sent away, he ends up killing his father in an accident and unknowingly marries his mother. I agree with this perception of fate to a certain extent. I understand the idea of a destined path, but I do not think that a human can prophesize a fated future.

 

When I hear this story it reminds me of those movies where the character has to relive a certain day over and over again until he/she accomplishes what he/she is fated to do. One of these movies is called Twelve Dates of Christmas. In this movie, the main character relives Christmas Eve over and over again, until she finds the man she was fated to be with. This movie displays the idea I've been trying to express; our decisions effect our lives and others, but we are still on an overall path of fate by God.



Selfless Deeds-September

Selfless Deeds

Is there such thing as a selfless deed? This is a very common topic in the media world. Many can argue that everything we do is selfish because we will always gain something. I personally agree with this belief. We always receive something in return for a deed whether we intend to or not. For example, let's say that I hold the door for someone because that is the nice, polite thing to do. I don't expect that person to pay me or give me anything in return for holding the door for them. They will, however, probably say "thank you." By saying "thank you," I now have a sense of pleasure because I know that someone is grateful for what I did. Every single thing we do benefits us in some way, whether it be by receiving a material item or a sense of pleasure. I honestly cannot think of an example where we do not gain something in return. Even in instances of pain, we endure that suffering because there is something that we gain out of it in the end. Every time you are given a choice, you always gain something from it. It's inevitable. You probably don't even think about half of the choices and deeds you make throughout your everyday life, but you are subconsciously doing these things and gaining something from them, whether you are aware of it or not.

In one of the AP books we read this summer, The Fountainhead, Toohey states that "a totally selfless interest in one's fellow men is possible in this world, Peter." I don't disagree with Toohey in this statement. I believe that our actions can be intended to be selfless. I argue, however, that while actions can be intended to be selfless, we still unintentionally gain things out of them. Like in the example I talked about earlier, when you hold the door for somebody you don't do it to help yourself, but to help another person, which is selfless. The feeling of pleasure that you receive after you hold that door, however, is what causes holding the door to no longer be a selfless deed.

When I think of this topic, it reminds me of the T.V. show, Friends. There was this one episode where Phoebe was trying to find an "unselfish deed," but to no avail. She even let a bee sting her because she knew that that wouldn't make her happy and the bee could "brag to all of his bee friends", only to realize that after a bee stings you, it dies. By the end of the show Phoebe realizes what I've been trying to say, that no matter how we go about our actions we will always gain something out of them, whether it be a material item or sense of pleasure, thus there is no such thing as a selfless deed.