Cultural Relativsim vs. Ethnocentrism

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Recommended: Cultural relativism - An attempt at conceptual analysis

Wade Davis, a famous anthropologist, writer, explorer, and other professions, stated “The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.” The quote means that because a person is not like you or your culture does not make them inferior. It makes them unique in their own way. On the other side of the spectrum is David Eller who stated “Insularity is the foundation of ethnocentrism and intolerance; when you only know of those like yourself, it is easy to imagine that you are alone in the world or alone in being good and right in the world. Exposure to diversity, on the contrary, is the basis for relativism and tolerance; when you are forced to face and accept the Other as real, unavoidable, and ultimately valuable, you cannot help but see yourself and your 'truths' in a new - and trouble - way.” What he meant is that because some people are isolated they think that their culture is the only culture out there and when they later learn about other culture they are forced to accept the reality that there are other cultures. That each culture has their own characteristics. The difference between cultural relativism verses ethnocentrism and which one attitude is more favorable in today’s society than the other.
According to dictionary.com the definition of cultural relativism is:
The concept that the importance of a particular cultural idea varies from one society or societal subgroup to another, the view that ethical and moral standards are relative to what a particular society or culture believes to be good/bad, right/wrong (cultural relativism, 2014).
The founder of this principle/attitude is Franz Boas, considered fat...

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...ents-for-against/
Cultural relativism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com 21st Century Lexicon. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cultural relativism
Ethnocentrism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethnocentrism
Franz Boas. (n.d.). Franz Boas. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from http://www.nndb.com/people/861/0000975
Macionis, J. J. (2012). Sociology: Fourteenth Edition (International Ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Rachels, J. (n.d.). The Challenge of Cultural Relativism. The Challenge of Cultural Relativism. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://rintintin.colorado.edu/~vancecd/phl
William Graham Sumner. (n.d.).American Sociological Association: William G. Sumner. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://asanet.org/about/presidents/william_

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