Cultural practices Essay

Culture, ethnocentrism and ethnic possibility of relativity are the three terms which form the basis of this essay. There is an labour to define each of these terms in as precise bearing as possible. More everyplace some discussion on gentleman attitudes and characteristics precedes the concluding answer to the question gutter we judge a ethnic implement as decent or wrong ? The answer is affirmative Yes, altogether ethnical practices cannot be considered equal and beyond reproach, judging them as right or wrong is surely delightful.Definitions Culture is defined as, the totality of kind and physical reactions and activities that characterize the behavior of individuals composing of a social sort collectively and individu eachy in relation to their natural environment, to other hosts, to members of the group itself, and of each individual to himself. ( Heuristic device) Ethnocentrism is defined as tendency to insure at the world, primarily from the perspective of mavins give husbandry. It frequently entails the belief that ones own lean or heathenishgroup is the most important and/or that some or all(prenominal) aspects of its civilization are superior to those of other groups. ( Ethnocentrism). Cultural relativity is the normal that an individuals beliefs and activities should be interpreted in terms of his own culture. ( Cultural relativism). It is important to note over here that the five civilizations of humankind history is the mother of all cultural practices. Each civilization devised a behavioral pattern which suited the local geographic, economic and political conditions. The grow of all ethnicgroups claiming to have their own and independent culture can be traced back to these five civilizations. They are essentially offshoots of the basic civilization. backchat It has been proved beyond doubt that the major negative characteristics of human race are his greed and his ego. He always wants to dominate over his familia r humans and other living species. On the other hand, one of the trump out qualities of human beings is to make our globe a worth living place. Those who devised the cultural practices were alsohuman beings and hence all cultures have something that can be called good and something that can be called bad or not acceptable. A few examples will prove this point. The Indus vale civilization, firmly advocates the theory of live and let live. Hinduism, a faith originating in the Indian sub-continent advocates only vegetarian food. The argument is, why kill a fish, chicken or an animal when your stomach can be filled with vegetables and cereals, without making any(prenominal)(prenominal) compromise on the nutritive values? So far so good. The same culture has a caste system. The status of a human being is decided by the virtue of his birth. If he is born(p) in a higher caste, he has the world at his feet, and if he is born in a lower caste family, then he is set as an untouchable, who will never get any opportunity in life to improve his position. The European culture. While European intelligence has been instrumental in framing the highly developed technical world of today, unspoilt of comforts, the same Europeans havesucked the blood of the third world population by establishing colonies, for centuries together. A very truthful fact, right from the civilization days to today, is that all human efforts in devising cultural practices have been concentrated at local level only. No culture has a global approach. The Indus valley civilization is perhaps an exception to this. The practices are laid down for a particular group of people residing in that particular geographic area. In the entire history of human evolution, man has never lived like asingle species. Needless to say, betterment of life and composed co-existence were the aims of any cultural practices. Hence, evaluation of any culture should be done on a very basic question, does it allow others to exist peacefully? The two systems of cultural perceptions, namely ethnocentrism and cultural relativism have very less significance. While ethnocentrism places ones own culture as the only ruff cultural relativism closes the doors for perceptivenesss about other cultures. Ethnocentrismdoes not put Americans or Europeans as the best cultural groups and cultural relativism cannot ignore the fact that slavery system in America is a wrong practice. These perceptions are irrelevant because no culture is supreme or the best, and no culture is so pure(a) in itself . Summary No theory can prevent judgment of the wrong and the right of any cultural practice. Simply because no culture is flawless, when assessed on humanitarian and global grounds. Any practice which preserves the peaceful co-existence and helps in bettermentof life will always be applauded and any practice which promotes injustice, cruelty and domination over others, will always be turned down. If Americans think in an ethnocentric way that they are the corroboratory dominators of the world affairs, they are mistaken. It was Europe yesterday, America today and tomorrow whitethorn belong to some other culture. Similarly if Asians think that there is no need to die judgment on any other culture because every culture is complete on its own, they are also wrong. They ought to pass a judgment and raise a voice against the wrong colonisation and slavery of Europeans and Americans respectively. No theory can stop passing judgments over any cultural practice. Judgments are necessary. They always help in alter upon the negative aspects of any culture. Works cited page 1) Heuristic device and cultural relativism, wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 12 02-07, Retrieved on 14-02-07. http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/cultural_relativism 2. Ethnocentrism, wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 10-02-07, Retrieved on 14-02-07, http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/etnocentrism