Who are we to say that what one culture does is wrong? When I see things like this though, it makes my heart hurt. But as a biological anthropologist I need to be neutral. Things that may seem cruel to us might be perfectly normal in another culture and vice-versa. I can't help being conflicted inside. Should we, people who can create change, interfere with the practices of other cultures if we view them as wrong? Or, should we do nothing because every culture is different and we do not rule the world? But, aren't cultures supposed to change and evolve? What do we do? What is right?
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2 comments:
Why should one not judge a cultures actions on a moral basis? If morality is a cultural consturct then obviously the individual within one culture would have no justifiable grounds for commenting on another culture.
But morality is not a cultural construct. It is much, much more then that.
Before you respond, and I really hope you do, consider the fact that certain asspects of morality are universal (such as murder being wrong, adultery being wrong, etc) across cultures though the semantics may vary.
Let me start by saying that I am only going to respond once. I do not wish for this to become a debate on morality and ethics. Although I am a huge fan & supporter, I myself am not a debater. This is mostly because I have a hard time formulating an opinion on most political/ethical/controversial topics. If you are looking for a debate I suggest you contact my coauthor.
I have spent a great deal of time, too much in fact, pondering the issue of morality as a cultural universal since you commented and I can’t say that I agree with you. Culture is a learned behavior. It is not innate. I include morality under the culture umbrella. From the time we are born we are taught what is moral and what isn’t. We do not come out of the womb believing that cheating on our spouse is wrong. In some cultures it isn’t wrong. The Mbuti are restricted from sleeping with their spouses during certain times, but allowed to sleep with another member of the group.
I do believe that cultures evolve. The Dani used to practice amputating the fingers of young girls after a fresh blood death. To us this is oppressive and immoral, but to them it was perfectly normal. They had practiced this ritual for so long that when asked why they did it no one knew. When the Dani found out the rest of the world didn’t do this they stopped. They evolved.
I don’t think one culture should force another to evolve. One cannot force enlightenment and/or advancement because that leads to chaos and war. Culture can be adaptive and maladaptive. Successful adaptations solve problems and generally “better” living conditions. However, solutions to one problem may create another either immediately or in the future (Anth 201 notes). This is why I find it hard to tell another culture how to behave.
But let’s go back to the dolphins because I think we are beginning to get stuck in the “muddy bottom of morality” as my anthropology professor so accurately put it. Here is why I am torn. Japan is a very advanced society. They do not have to cruelly kill thousands of dolphins every year to feed themselves. However, the United States is also an advanced culture. Yet every year we slaughter countless chickens, pigs, and cattle. Before you argue that we do it in a humane way (whatever that means) Google how they kill chickens. It’s awful. In spite of this I, along with most of my fellow Americans, purchase chicken all the time. One could also argue that because dolphins are intelligent creatures that there is a difference. So now the issue becomes where do we draw the line?
It is impossible to discuss this topic without also discussing cultural relativism and ethnocentrism. Both of which exhaust and frustrate me. I could dive deeper into these controversial anthropological waters, but I fear that this is already becoming a term paper and I should probably save it for when I will be graded on it. I’m sure this will indeed happen in the near future and I’ll save my further thoughts, examples, and energy for then.
Thank you and I hope I have helped you better understand the intent of my original post.
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