James Rachels’ article, “Morality is Not Relative,” is incorrect, he provides arguments that cannot logically be applied or have no bearing on the statement of contention. His argument, seems to favor some of the ideas set forth in cultural relativism, but he has issues with other parts that make cultural relativism what it is. The first mistake is in his comparison following the example of there being different moral codes. In outlining and explaining the cultural differences argument, he gives an example that he began the article with regarding the Callatians and the Greeks, and their differences in funerary practices. Rachels asks that “from the mere fact that they disagreed, that there is no objective truth in the matter?” His answer is that “no,” and that the answer one could derive is that one of those beliefs is altogether incorrect and wrong. Here Rachels’ statement seems to negate that which he wants to negate but it is through manipulation of the parties involved and the adding of “facts’ that aren’t there. These two cultures in his example to not disagree about anything, there are simply two different ways they deal with death. Because they are different, doesn’t necessarily imply there is any disagreement. So my answer is yes, this example does mean that there is no objective truth, because we cannot say that their practice (Greeks vs. the Callatians) is incorrect or immoral as much as they can say our practices are immoral. To label a culture’s belief in certain practices as possibly being “mistaken,” doesn’t sound very openminded in any way at all. The next example Rachels uses to make his point clearer, is that in certain societies, because they believe that the earth is flat, and factually the earth is not, by default the those that believe that it is flat are wrong. By itself this argument makes sense, and I wou...
