Moral Relativism (continued)

There can be no doubt that cultures vary extensively as to what they, as a culture, deem acceptable behavior.  In some societies it is acceptable, if not mandatory, that a woman be totally submissive to her husband and that the husband ought to beat her until she does his will.  In some cultures it is acceptable and in fact common practice to mutilate a female's genitals (female circumcision), so that she will find intercourse painful and unlikely to find sexual contact with another desireable (Alice Walker: Possessing The Secret of Joy). What do we do when these cultures come in contact with other cultures, say for instance our own?  Is it morally acceptable for one man to beat his wife and not another?  Here we should distinguish Moral from Legal.  In societies where beating one's wife is illegal it may be considered immoral not to, and may, and often does, go unreported to legal authorities because of cultural predispositions. According to the relativist position one should leave other cultural and moral practices to those who practice them and not interfere.  But can we really do this?  In a globalized world, where it is only a few hours flight time to another totally alien culture, it is difficult to maintain an Absolutist position (that there is one and only one correct moral right and wrong, and it is the one held by the person with that absolutist postition, commonly called Hard Universalism).  Likewise it is difficult to maintain a Relativist or Subjectivist position, since that would entail that we leave others alone and not interfere with their moral and cultural practices.  Morals can't be totally subjective to an individual or relative to a given culture.  There must be something else.

The pluralist or Soft-Universalist position is that although there are many cultural differences there is, and ought to be, some basic fundamental commonalities to moral questions. Here education, empathy, sympathy and respect come into play.  We ought to respect others for their cultural practices and moral beliefs, be sympathetic and empathetic to others, but also come to some compromises, so that we get at the commonalities and not let one culture dominate or dictate the beliefs and practices of others.  It is a difficult task, because some people for moral and cultural reasons will refuse to compromise. But we cannot persist in a series of culture wars that we today have as a plague on our house.

To illustrate the position of the Pluralist, consider the film Dances with Wolves.  In the movie John Dunbar finds a woman by a lone tree on the prairie who has tried to commit suicide.  In her culture it is right to kill herself, so that she might die to be with her dead husband.  But in our culture it is wrong, and John wraps her in his flag [our flag -- symbolic of our culture], so that she will not bleed to death and returns her to her people.  As the story progresses she is found to be once of John's culture and eventually becomes his wife.  Here cultures are in conflict and here for both cultures life is sacred, but they have different ways of expressing the sacredness of life.  On the one hand to die for one's husband is the ultimate respect for that husband.  On the other hand to live for one's deceased husband is the ultimate testament to him.  The problem is ultimately solved in the movie when John comes to be a part of the Sioux community and comes to take on some of their cultural values, but understands that their values are very much the same as his and not just because he falls in love with the woman (Stands with a Fist). In other words they do not leave each other alone, they come to understand one another and compromise. They learn and study each other's ways and in the process come to love each other.  As one of the Sioux warriors says to John just before the marriage "I know now why he died, it was because you were coming".  The Hard Universalists in the movie are the soldiers who beat Dunbar up for dressing like an Indian and adopting many of their ways and cart him off for a court marshal.
(To be continued again)