Understanding Social Norms, Contracts, and Cultural Diversity
Social Order Rules
Various types of rules guide human behavior. No society exists without them.
Moral Standards
Moral standards have a universal character and affect human beings. Violations of moral standards may lead to remorse, but not necessarily external punishment.
Legal Norms
Legal norms are not universal; they apply only within a given territory, state, or community. Actions against legal norms result in punishment. The set of laws in a place is called law.
Social Practices
Social practices are conventions that vary from place to place and facilitate integration. Examples include greetings. Failure to follow these practices may be seen as wrong, but does not result in punishment.
Social Contract
The modern social contract paradigm involves theories intended to legitimize political power. Modern philosophers write about social contract theory, where a group of individuals agree to give up certain individual rights in exchange for something.
Locke’s Social Contract
Locke believed in a state of peaceful coexistence, where rational beings can live without killing. However, there is always a latent state of war. Freedom, life, and property are important. People sign a social contract out of fear of losing private land. The social contract is signed by all individuals and the government, ultimately conserving property.
Hobbes’ Social Contract
Hobbes described a natural state as a war of all against all, where everyone desires unlimited power, leading to conflict. People fear violent death and sign a contract to conserve life. The social state guarantees individual security through institutionalization of fear.
Rousseau’s Social Contract
Rousseau envisioned an ideal world where humans are lazy and war is rare. The reason for signing a contract is moral: to achieve a quality of life. The state must transform individuals into citizens, fostering moral growth. Natural liberty is exchanged for moral freedom.
Cultural Diversity
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism uses one’s own culture as a reference point to criticize others. It involves an attitude of superiority, paternalism, and imposing one’s own way of doing things (xenophobia, racism, aporophobia).
Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism values cultures from their own perspectives, not from one’s own. It avoids risks such as racism, separation between cultures, romantic attitudes, and cultural paralysis.
Interculturalism
Interculturalism respects what is different and promotes encounters between cultures. It recognizes the pluralistic nature of the world, promotes equal dialogue, and aims for integration to build a global civilization.