Benedict defines ethical relativism as a matter of having a collection of norms which are deemed “good” in the eyes of one society, yet in another civilization, would be considered to be “wrong” or “abnormal”. These set of common rules are predetermined, dictating a society’s outlook through its “long traditional habits” (p.6). She argues that the way situations are perceived, are completely subjective. With this being said, Benedict goes on to claim that, regardless of how the dilemma is carried out—the decision isn’t truly morally true, but rather culturally accurate. Through juxtaposition between tribal customs from isolated civilizations, namely Melaneasians and American Indian tribes, and our society, she reiterates how different social norms and methods of calculating social reputation can be. She summarizes her assertion on page 6 of her essay:

“The very eyes with which we see the problem are conditioned by the long traditional habits of our own society… We recognize that morality differs in every society, and is a convenient term for socially approved habits.”

As long as conflict doesn’t arise, a culture will continue its traditions accordingly, shaping into its own distinct society. While doing so, these individual societies will continue to grow progressively dissimilar—but that doesn’t mean that either ways of life are invalid. She argues that we are keen to argue against a topic once it isn’t congruent to ours, that there are other courses of action which happen to work for their culture. Since the mainstream of society is what defines normalcy, accepted notions are synonymous to the idea of righteousness. Compliance is viewed by any culture as the perfect method in order for a society to flourish. 

A common proverb that captures the author’s message is “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. For this instance, beauty is the culturally accepted notion, while the eye of the beholder is the fixed perspective of the specific society. Normality is solely based on the choices made of that specific society, and will always be correlated to the “culturally institutionalized types of behavior” (p.6). Based on her defense, no matter how outrageous we find a culture’s belief to be, we should be understanding and respectful, since everything is up for interpretation.  

Although, at face value, it may seem that the correct course of action in handling a dilemma is to follow the opinion of the majority—even if most of the society is in agreement, that doesn’t indicate whether that is the absolute correct way in doing so. It only signifies common interests of that society, which has been engraved into our minds, not based on our personal conscience decisions. Sure, it’s accepted, but that doesn’t hide the fact that some issues should be handled a certain way—-particularly when it comes to how people should be treated—-with respect and care. As much as I would like to conclude that people are entitled to their own opinions for issues, some negatively affect our humanity too much to be disregarded. For instance, the whole debate on whether global warming is actually real completely boggles my mind, no one has the credibility to argue against Mother Nature. Global warming shouldn’t even be controversial, natural devastations around the globe should be enough evidence for anyone to concur. 

I agree with Benedict’s perspective regarding ethical relativism, but only to a certain extent. Regardless of background, everyone is entitled to having sympathy and respect from others. With this being said, certain rules should be in place, and we should have the right to evaluate each other for the better of mankind. If we were to leave it up to interpretation for everyone, then nothing is necessarily “true”, and many unfair situations would continue to be justified. Honestly, ethical relativism serves as a way to validate unfair and oppressive situations, allowing for them to continue for many generations to come. Consequently, forcing people to endure these “traditions”, since it supposedly works with society. 

(616 words, excluding the quote)