Cultural Relativism and Moral Action
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
- Textbook: Chapter 1, 2
- Lesson
- Minimum of 2 scholarly sources in addition to the textbook
Instructions
For this assignment propose a scenario where you or someone you know are confronted with a moral dilemma relating to cultural diversity and multiculturalism. It cannot be the same as what was covered in the week one discussion.
Cultural diversity refers to religious, sexual, racial, and other forms of social difference. A moral dilemma is a situation in which one must make a decision between two or more options such that the options involve seemingly ethical and/or unethical conduct. Address the following questions:
- What was the situation? What did the dilemma involve?
- What would a subjective moral relativist say is the right approach to the dilemma? Why would that kind of relativist say that?
- What would a cultural relativist say is the right approach to the dilemma? Why would that kind of relativist say that? Is that approach correct?
- What did you the person confronting the dilemma decide to do? What moral justification did they give? Is that approach morally correct?
- Was there an objective moral truth (the objectively right thing to do) in this situation? Why or why not?
Remember, the dilemma should be detailed with description and dialogue. Regard the questions as requirements. This is an essay, so rather than simply providing a list of brief answers to questions, provide an in-depth reflection regarding a difficult ethical situation..
Answer preview
The situation involved two of my friends, a Muslim, and a Christian, who was in love and wanted to get married. The dilemma was, who between the two would convert from his or her cultural practice to accommodate the other. The main issue was that polygamy is allowed in the Muslim faith but not welcomed in the Christian culture. In the Muslim religion, a man can have more than one wife, and its socially accepted, but in the Christian setting, this is considered a sin.
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