OK, I'm familiar with that argument. It's often called "cultural relativism." It says that cultures evolve to meet the needs of the people in that society, so therefore people outside the society can't really judge whether that culture's decisions are better or worse than anyone else's.
I have some reservations about cultural relativism (I'll post about that in a new post) but I think it's an important starting point when we're dealing with other cultures. That is, I think most of us tend to start out with a negative reaction to other cultures, so it's helpful to be culturally relativistic for long enough to learn about the new culture.
I wonder how cultural relativism can be reconciled with Islam. Isn't there an inclination, in Islam, to see the Qur'an as an absolute against which different cultures can be judged? ("He sent the Book in truth, to judge between people in matters wherein they differed....") Does that make it possible to judge between different societies?
Here's my favorite article about cultural relativism. I'm going to post it in my main blog, too, so that people who aren't following this conversation can read it too.
(I should warn you that it contains some photos you might find objectionable, but he uses them to make important points and it would be hard to understand his lecture without them.)
Re: Haines
OK, I'm familiar with that argument. It's often called "cultural relativism." It says that cultures evolve to meet the needs of the people in that society, so therefore people outside the society can't really judge whether that culture's decisions are better or worse than anyone else's.
I have some reservations about cultural relativism (I'll post about that in a new post) but I think it's an important starting point when we're dealing with other cultures. That is, I think most of us tend to start out with a negative reaction to other cultures, so it's helpful to be culturally relativistic for long enough to learn about the new culture.
I wonder how cultural relativism can be reconciled with Islam. Isn't there an inclination, in Islam, to see the Qur'an as an absolute against which different cultures can be judged? ("He sent the Book in truth, to judge between people in matters wherein they differed....") Does that make it possible to judge between different societies?
Here's my favorite article about cultural relativism. I'm going to post it in my main blog, too, so that people who aren't following this conversation can read it too.
Confessions of a Former Cultural Relativist.
(I should warn you that it contains some photos you might find objectionable, but he uses them to make important points and it would be hard to understand his lecture without them.)