Cultural Relativity of Moral Precepts

Abstract

The foundation of most intellectual discourse is Western-centric to the exclusion of other views. This includes ideal patterns of social interaction, preference for aesthetic, accepted norms and values, and the concepts of dignity, respectability, morality and ethics. Such a position is culturally myopic. Western cultural influence colors all of them including moral precepts. The assumption is that Western-centric moral precepts are universally followed. This paper explores these concepts and discusses the dominance of Western-centric point of view in moral precepts. It describes how non-Western-centric views are different and argues that understanding non-Western-centric concepts is a useful undertaking that could expand our horizons.