Cultural Diversity, Relativism, and Universality
Cultural Diversity, Universality, and Cultural Relativism
Cultural Diversity: There is not one single culture, but many. Unlike animals, humans are open and have a large number of possibilities. They use their intelligence and freedom to determine their behavior, choosing the answers that seem most appropriate. Therefore, many people have created their own ways of life. Humans take care of their projects, and these projects are shared with other people. This whole project is what we call culture. The cultural diversity of mankind is very different because different paths have been taken.
Cultural Relativism: It is considered impossible to compare or evaluate the characteristics of different cultures. It has to do with distance. Each culture has value in itself. The risk is that this concept is often used to excuse inaction against injustice and inhumanity. Realizing that different cultures should exist is a more philosophical point of view. It involves respect for all cultures, including one’s own.
Universality: Dialogue. There are higher values in all cultures. These universal values are higher because they do not belong to any single culture (e.g., human rights). You can only create distance from within. Freedom is a higher value. Let’s not be *of* a culture, but *with* them all. There are universal values that can be passed on to any culture. These values transcend individual cultures.
Ethnocentrism and Its Derivations
Attitudes toward cultural diversity vary:
Ethnocentrism: Judging and assessing the culture of other groups from one’s own perspective, leading to disdain and criticism. It is the basis of colonialism and imperialism, treating other cultures as inferior.
- Racism: An attitude or behavior based on the consideration that some races are superior to others. Any behavior that manifests in increased alienation or isolation of a person or group based on their race, religion, or educational level.
- Xenophobia: Attitudes of rejection or contempt towards people of other cultures, often caused by fear or ignorance.
Culture as a Distinguishing Feature of Human Societies
The distinctive feature of human evolution is culture. Individuals are not selected; behaviors are. There are two distinguishing features that enable human groups to differentiate, and this difference occurs over time:
- Diachronic: Differences over time; cultures change over time.
- Synchronic: Differences at the same time; cultural differences can bring problems.
The Human Universe as Cultural Dimensions
Each culture always involves three dimensions. These dimensions are linked; if one changes, the others do as well. They are not isolated but interrelated. No culture exists without all three dimensions. If the differential element of culture is conditioned by man, then culture creates a world of its own. What distinguishes human beings are things that are learned, not biological.
- Material Dimension: Objects. The material objects that surround us are cultural products.
- Practical Dimension: Conduct, actions. The dimension of behavior—what we do, how we act—is conditioned by culture. Humans do things that are cultural (eating, sleeping, relating sexually, etc.). Everything we do is cultural.
- Ideological Dimension: Rules, ideas, beliefs. Religion is irrational; science is rational. Blind faith in science is a belief of men who take for granted that what science says is the truth. Beliefs are convictions that challenge our way of understanding the world. Ideology is a set of concepts and rules that determine how each person sees the world.