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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper examines the ideas of cultural relativism and ethnocentrism as it respects anthropology. Whether or not bias on the part of anthropologists alters the objectivity of conclusions is discussed. Articles and book chapters submitted by a student are referred to in the text. No bibliography.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA221cul.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
anthropologists alters the objectivity of conclusions is discussed. Articles and book chapters submitted by a student are referred to in the text. No bibliography. SA221cul.rtf Ethnocentrism
and cultural relativism are two concepts that are not easily defined. In chapter 11 of a book utilized by a student, it is claimed that humans have the unique capacity
to learn and while animals learn from their experiences, humans learn from other people. Above all, culture is shared. Cultural traditions include natural phenomena as well as biology to
channel in particular directions. These things become important in understanding both concepts. Ethnocentrism is indicative of a view of the world from a particular perspective and also suggests that the
view is colored by ones own ethnicity. In other words, if one is black, the person may view slavery as a serious blight on American history, while the Eurocentric view
might embrace the idea that slavery was merely a fact of life at the time. Some white people might actually justify it and American history books do not seem to
be very hard on slavery. In fact, some critics have actually accused many American history books as being Eurocentric because the settlers were Europeans. Hence, the plight of the American
Indian is thoroughly ignored. Cultural relativism on the other hand looks at all cultures equally and provides a more objective stance. With the slavery issue, it might hold that slavery
is okay in some parts of the world but not in others, even today. Other things such as female circumcision, child prostitution and even murder are acceptable in some parts
of the world. Such an acceptance is through the view of cultural relativism; otherwise, to many people, such practices are abhorrent. Yet, others realize that their own view is in
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