Article 7 From The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 1993, Second Edition

This article starts with a obvious point to it, that the only thing about morals that is the same between cultures is that we have them. As to what they are and how highly they are respected is but a luck of the draw in the cultures history books. It continues to explain how right and wrong is impossible to differentiate, seeing as how between cultures there is not a sound standards that we can judge from. "The 'right' way is the way which the ancestors used and which has been handed down." This makes perfect sense, and I can see it even within different families that I have interacted with, where certain traditions may seem odd to me, like getting presents on Easter, or eating dinner really early. It is natural to them, and I am sure it is the say way when they see my family. But, to bring this same idea to lead to therefore mean that there can be no natural morality that can be seen as true, is taking it a bit too far. I agree with this point in the article, but how they explain it, I find it pushing the limit of analogies, comparing the cultural difference in burial rituals to the debate over the shape of the earth. When it comes to morals, there is still some similarities seen across the world as to what is wrong and what is right, no matter where the culture began. The idea of murder, across the board, is looked down upon, but to every culture, the intensity of punishment or how much it is looked down upon can easily shift. Morals are effected by the cultures religious beliefs, environment and history, so it is obvious they will not all be the same, but the fact that sound roots of what is loosely right and wrong are still seen in each.
In the end, this article makes two important points about the Cultural Relativism theory, and it is what it has to offer, that is not totally out there, and I agree with both of them, and fear that most of our culture might not. The first is a warning about assuming that our way of life is the true way of life, and anyone who is different is wrong, which leads into the second, keeping an open mind. Both of these seem to be a problem in this world, and always have been. Is this not what all of the wars are about? We are right, you are wrong, lets kill each other to prove it.

All in all, this article basically said that the Cultural Relativism theory isn't a total load of crap, but is still pretty out there...
and now I'm going to go eat some cookies