Blog Assignment #6

PART 1

QUESTION #1: If an action that is praised in one culture may be condemned in another, would it be correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in?

ANSWER 1A:
Yes, I would say that all moral values are relative to the culture that they are found in. I have come to this conclusion based on two premises. The first would be that a moral value in one culture can be completely meaning-less in another. For example in our culture we believe that it is only humane,and our duty to take care of our elderly and sick. While native Americans believed that when you become sick or elderly you can not contribute to the tribe anymore, and you would accept to leave the tribe and live on your own. My second premise is based on how high a moral value is regarded in any given culture. Moral values can be similar between two cultures, but the value of that moral can be interpreted much different. Resulting in a difference in meaning even though both cultures share the same value.

ANSWER 1B:
P: We ought to realize that cultures can value a moral that isn't even existent in another.

P: Different cultures interpret moral codes differently, which in fact can change the value of how highly the moral is held.

C: Therefore, it is correct to say that all moral values are relative to the culture they are found in.


QUESTION #2: Isn’t it a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures or to claim that one culture is better than another?

ANSWER 2A:

Yes, it is a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures. No culture is more important than another. It is very hard for anyone to understand a distant culture, but the problem is that without being a part of that culture it can be very hard to understand that culture. Cultures are changing and it is most important to know where comes from. Some have been around for thousands of years, while the United States has only been around for a few hundred. So what would make us more knowledgeable than those that have been around for centuries longer?

ANSWER 2B:

P: We should always try to understand where a culture comes from.

P: We ought to notice that there are many other cultures with vast contributions to the modern world, and none is more important than another.

C: Therefore, it is a mark of ignorance to pass judgments on other cultures.

PART 2

The inquire I chose was #6. It is based on a dictator's wife that was known for spending millions of dollars in a single day, while the country was in poverty. I do not think we could pass judgement because as recently as the last few months this has been happening right here in the United States. The New York Yankees are spending more money on baseball players than ever. Out biding all other teams and paying multiple players over 20 million dollars a year while other teams barely have that much for their entire team salary. A lot of the big named companies are spending money on week long vacations for management and owners, while they are laying off thousands of long-time employees. I think that the fact of the matter is that people get greedy no matter what is around them, and having so many people suffer while you can live it up only feeds that desire to spend what you have.

Argument #1:

Arguable issue: Whether or not it is right for someone to spend large amounts of money, when others are in poverty.

P: Gluttony is always wrong.

P: If you are better off than everyone else you should try to help the solution, not become apart of the problem.

C: Therefore you should limit yourself to necessities when others cannot afford to live a normal life.