Ethics and culture: messes and dangers of the concepts culture and cultural relativism in the field of social, psychoeducational, and socio-sanitary action

Abstract

Knowing what type of problems we face is important because, among other things, it leads us to the fields of science that can help find answers. Anthropology seems to have been over concerned, and moral philosophy not concerned enough, with the diversity of beliefs and values. More precisely, philosophy’s lack of interest in social, psycho-educational and social health action means that these different beliefs and values have been interpreted from a mainly anthropological perspective. This is apparent in two issues: the conceiving this diversity through a cultural, not ethical, viewpoint, and the confusion typically generated by the concept of cultural relativism. The first section of this article deals with the misunderstanding and danger of the concept of culture (and concepts derived from it, for example, multiculturalism and interculturalism) in the analysis of moral conflicts, proposing alternative concepts and, therefore, procedures. The second section deals with the misunderstanding and danger of the c oncept of cultural relativism, proposes a classification of the four most important attitudes towards moral and ethical diversity, and defends the possibilities of ethical perspectivism.