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Sierra Garland Phil 308-50 3/12/16 Cultural Relativism is a theory that is a type of ethical relativism. As stated by Russ Shafer-Landau, “Cultural Relativism claims that the correct moral standards are relative to cultures or societies”. In other words, an act is deemed morally right or wrong based on cultures and societies. For any act token, A, "A is morally right" =df A is permitted by the moral code of the society of its agent at the time of its performance. A society is a collection of people, living proximity to each other, sharing a language, religion, cuisine, and culture. The moral code of society at time is the system of moral rules and beliefs accepted among the members of that society at that time. The Reformer’s Dilemma presents another side of the theory. The Reformer’s Dilemma states: 1. If Cultural Relativism is true, then every moral reformer is mistaken. 2. It is not the case that every moral reformer is mistaken. 3. It is not the case that Cultural Relativism is true. A moral reformer is a person who believes that some acts permitted (prohibited) by the moral code of his/her society are in fact morally wrong (morally right). This dilemma is saying that every moral reformer or every person who believes that some acts permitted by the moral code of society are in fact morally wrong is mistaken. It is not true that every person that believes some acts permitted by the moral code of a society is mistaken. Therefore, there is no way that Cultural Relativism can be true. A Cultural Relativist would answer the dilemma by simply stating that every moral reformer is mistaken. They would use the Cultural Differences argument which states: 1. Different societies have different moral codes. 2. If different societies have different moral codes, then Cultural Relativism is true. 3. Therefore, Cultural Relativism is true. This logic makes sense because since there are many different societies and cultures, they all have different moral codes. Their moral codes could be very similar or very different, it all depends what societies are being viewed. If an act is accepted by the moral code of the society of the individual performing the act at the given time, then following the Cultural Relativism theory, the act would only be morally wrong or right based on the moral codes of their society. In this case, I agree with the Cultural Differences argument because of the fact that every society is extremely different and if their society believes the act is morally wrong or right, that is true because the person performing the act is from that specific society. Simple Subjectivism or ethical subjectivism is another type of ethical relativism. The Simple Subjectivism theory is based more around the individual rather than the culture or society. Russ Shafer-Landau states, “Ethical Subjectivism claims that the correct moral standards are those endorsed by each individual. For any person, P, if P says, "x is right (wrong)," then P means exactly what P would mean if P were to say, "I approve (disapprove) of x.” An argument that goes against Simple Subjectivism is The No-Disagreements Argument which states: 1. If Simple Subjectivism is true, then there are no genuine moral disagreements. 2. There are genuine moral disagreements. 3. Therefore, Simple Subjectivism is false. If a genuine disagreement occurs between two people then one of them expresses or believes some proposition that the other takes to be false. The No-Disagreements Argument basically states that all people are right and there are no genuine moral disagreements. Obviously, there are many genuine moral disagreements. Therefore, Simple Subjectivism is false. A simple subjectivist would argue that there are no genuine moral disagreements therefore making simple subjectivism true. I agree with the No-Disagreements Argument because I know that there are many genuine moral disagreements that occur simply because there are so many individuals with different ideas and views.