Cultural relativism

Abstract

In this article, Lowell D. Holmes’ criticizes cultural relativism in anthropology. He believes that “anthropologists must establish a standard upon which to base criticism of those forms of human behavior which threaten man as a species or do him violence either physically or mentally. Anthropology continues to like all cultures and all practices there in either because they were created by the "noble savage" or merely because they exist. Valuing all cultures equally is as unrealistic as other forms of stereotyping. Unless we have the courage and ingenuity to develop a yard stick for evaluating cultures we cannot judge the adequacy of any given culture to meet the needs and aspirations of its participants. Some cultures work better than others in sustaining human life.”