Cultural and Ethical Relativism (980 words)

Essay answering the following philosophical question:
What is the difference(s) between cultural relativism and ethical relativism?
Discuss how Ruth Benedict moves from one to the other.
What would be some major criticism(s) of the move from cultural to ethical relativism?

Cultural relativism is the view that one is born into a particular culture. Culture in this definition is the sum of a peoples’ practices, from birth rituals, to how adolescence is defined, to gender roles. Being born into a particular culture shapes one’s particular worldview. A person cannot fully participate in a culture unless that person has “lived according to its forms” (Benedict 1934, p. 37). A person’s assumptions and the judgments they make are based on powerful social forces that are contingent upon the cultural practices that have been passed down through the generations....

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