[I was giving my ex-boyfriends college ethics book with text and writtings. It's what kicked started what was already in the back of my head. For months,I would read and write. Altho my interest has traveled else where... I still have this question that remains within my head. Now,if this does not make sense,or if i come off as a complete tard,i shall say i am sorry now for i am poorly educated but on my way of a change for the better.]

So the question being, if i respect other cultures for their moral beliefs, beacuse I believe in the fact that since we're all on different parts of this earth,with different culture. Clearly, we will have groups of different people with different beliefs. Morally, considering that if this is the way of someones life,along with their families,and so on.. If a culture believes that cutting the heads off of a weaker person, to gain more soical praise ( which i am not sure if those are the reasons,but I remember reading something along those lines..)... is morally correct,and if not done so,could be looked down upon and death upon that person themselves who was suppose to commit the act. If I do not agree with it, but i support people have different culture beliefs, does that mean i support the action itself? Or does it just mean I have an understanding that we're all different? Beacuse clearly here in america, if you cut someones head off... it's a crime. In tribes, which are so far from what us americans are like,the things they believe in, are different but would be consider a crime here.

basically, if you can make sense of my babble, I just wonder that if respecting another culture beliefs being it something you,yourself would never agree to do, does that give support to the action? As in, you allowing it to be happening per say. Altho in reality there truly is nothing you can do about what cultures beliefs are.

:whistling: I hope I make sense,as i fear that since i don't understand me, how can others?

I find your writing difficult to read...Post more...The more you write the easier it gets...Write like you talk...

Necro:
Don't worry so Much about the questions you ask. If people don't find them interesting they won't reply. Some people who reply rudely are going to do it no matter the question. A word of advice though, browse around before starting a thread, many of the topics about which people have questions have been discussed ad-nauseum.

:whistling: I hope I make sense,as i fear that since i don't understand me, how can others?

I understood what you asked. There was once a television show called Star Trek. The setting was a space ship whose crew travels around the galaxy. They operate under a "Prime Directive" of their government: do no interfere with the natural evolution of foreign cultures. As we watch the episodes, though, we see that the captain of the ship routinely breaks the rule. He systematically undermines foreign cultures with the intention of injecting his own values. The question remains: did he help people, or was he only obstructing their path to learning the lessons of life on their own?

There are other science fiction stories that explore the question from the opposing side: what if aliens came to earth and, disgusted by our behavior, sought to transform us in the same way the US government sought to destroy the Sioux culture of the Dakotas by forcing Sioux children to attend government schools designed to assimilate them?

The way it more commonly works out is that cultures just encounter each other and change each other. Change tends to mean that something precious is lost to time.

But that's the nature of time. In the end, you have to follow your heart.

I understood what you asked. There was once a television show called Star Trek. The setting was a space ship whose crew travels around the galaxy. They operate under a "Prime Directive" of their government: do no interfere with the natural evolution of foreign cultures. As we watch the episodes, though, we see that the captain of the ship routinely breaks the rule. He systematically undermines foreign cultures with the intention of injecting his own values. The question remains: did he help people, or was he only obstructing their path to learning the lessons of life on their own?

There are other science fiction stories that explore the question from the opposing side: what if aliens came to earth and, disgusted by our behavior, sought to transform us in the same way the US government sought to destroy the Sioux culture of the Dakotas by forcing Sioux children to attend government schools designed to assimilate them?

The way it more commonly works out is that cultures just encounter each other and change each other. Change tends to mean that something precious is lost to time.

But that's the nature of time. In the end, you have to follow your heart.

How far can ya go in ethical relativity? - there is no single answer

Deciding just how far cultural relativity should lie, in your ethics, is the task of every philosopher. I'd suggest try not to look at the topic as an all-or-nothing situation; most ethicists - I believe - would tell you that something is almost never completely wrong nor always completely wrong. It's that "depends on what"-aspect that delineates your view.

I think there are some things we can do that are almost always wrong and some that are nearly always right; but again, that's how I see it.

How far can ya go in ethical relativity? - there is no single answer

[I was giving my ex-boyfriends college ethics book with text and writtings. It's what kicked started what was already in the back of my head. For months,I would read and write. Altho my interest has traveled else where... I still have this question that remains within my head. Now,if this does not make sense,or if i come off as a complete tard,i shall say i am sorry now for i am poorly educated but on my way of a change for the better.]

So the question being, if i respect other cultures for their moral beliefs, beacuse I believe in the fact that since we're all on different parts of this earth,with different culture. Clearly, we will have groups of different people with different beliefs. Morally, considering that if this is the way of someones life,along with their families,and so on.. If a culture believes that cutting the heads off of a weaker person, to gain more soical praise ( which i am not sure if those are the reasons,but I remember reading something along those lines..)... is morally correct,and if not done so,could be looked down upon and death upon that person themselves who was suppose to commit the act. If I do not agree with it, but i support people have different culture beliefs, does that mean i support the action itself? Or does it just mean I have an understanding that we're all different? Beacuse clearly here in america, if you cut someones head off... it's a crime. In tribes, which are so far from what us americans are like,the things they believe in, are different but would be consider a crime here.

basically, if you can make sense of my babble, I just wonder that if respecting another culture beliefs being it something you,yourself would never agree to do, does that give support to the action? As in, you allowing it to be happening per say. Altho in reality there truly is nothing you can do about what cultures beliefs are.

:whistling: I hope I make sense,as i fear that since i don't understand me, how can others?

so i am starting to realize, i also enjoyed what you had to say. Any insight with philosophy is helpful. I'm not in school for another 6 months,and also been out of school for about 2. So I'm itching to grow at this point,and what else is the internet for? ha, well anyway Thank you. :shocked:

You might be interested in:

Moral relativism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Relativism*[The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

Moral Relativism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Those sites also have articles on other areas of philosophy.

As GoshisDead has already stated, there is a difference between respecting a person and his or her right to make a decision, and respecting the decision that is made.

As for differences in cultural practices, sometimes they are the result of different circumstances more than because of different attitudes about how things should be. For example, in the past, some Eskimos regarded it as a duty to commit suicide by going out in the cold to die, when they were too old and feeble to contribute to the family unit, when there was not enough to supply the needs of the whole family. Such a practice was not done because of a desire to get rid of old people, but because the conditions were harsh, and in many cases a family would not have enough food and such for everyone. The children, of course, are necessary for the future of the family, and those who are adults who are bringing in the food and doing other useful things are also necessary, so the elderly were the most expendable. Again, this was not done because of a dislike for old people, but out of necessity for the continued survival of the group.

Now, of course, they no longer do such things, not because of a different fundamental attitude, but because, with modern technology, it is no longer necessary.

So, sometimes particular practices that are superficially ethically different are motivated by the same underlying and more fundamental ethical concepts.

---------- Post added 01-08-2010 at 12:50 PM ----------



You may wish to enroll in an Introduction to Philosophy course, and then an introductory ethics course. And while you are at it, you might want to consider a course in Logic or critical thinking, which is useful for sharpening up one's reasoning. If you do well in those, you will be more knowledgeable than many people at this site.

I don't see how respecting another person's cultural beliefs is not an implicit endorsement of the type of behaviour that those beliefs engender. If you are at odds with their specific practices then you do not respect their beliefs. People are going too far out of their way to avoid conflict. We are too afraid due to political correctness, in my opinion. We dare not condemn another's precious culture.

I also believe we have invited terrorism due to our aforementioned lack standards. We have it so nice and it's like the gods of nature are saying to us "wait a minute, life is a lot more difficult than the way you are living, so I will introduce an incompatible (more vile and violent) life style in order to fill that gaping void."

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