PH01103 Cultural Relativism

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2015
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Martin Paleček, Ph.D. (lecturer), Ing. Mgr. Zdeňka Jastrzembská, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Josef Krob, CSc.
Department of Philosophy – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Hana Holmanová
Supplier department: Department of Philosophy – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Thu 14:10–15:45 K32
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course will provide a framework for analyzing diverse facets of cultural relativism. We will focus on these questions: (1) What philosophical sources can we find for cultural relativism? How justify the protagonists of cultural relativism their beliefs?; (2) Are the positions of cultural relativism defensible? (3) What empirical sources can we find for cultural relativism? (5) Can we develop a relativistic methodology? (6) What kind of consequences is following the concept of cultural relativism?
I will claim that the troubles connected to the cultural relativism are based on the false employing of the concept of culture itself. The second source of these troubles is based on insufficient consilience between social sciences and cognitive sciences.
We will focus on these key questions:
1. How to identify the different sources and forms of relativism in the history of anthropology?
2. How to articulate the philosophical commitments of the different forms of relativism in anthropology?
3. How to examine to what extent culturally relativist methodology and argumentation based on cultural relativism are defensible and what results follow from them?
Students will be able to analyze different sources, motivations, results of discussions, and defensibility of cultural relativism.
Syllabus
  • 1) Introduction: Science, social science and philosophy.
    2) The idea of culture.
    3) Key debates within the cultural anthropology. Interpretativism vs. naturalism.
    4) The savage mind and the prehistoric mind.
    5) The idea of cultural relativism and (apparent) irrationality.
    6) Should we take cultural differences seriously? The ethical relativism.
    7) The scientific wars and Yanomamö: Is there eny any empirical evidence for relativism?
    8) Objections against (cultural) relativism.
    9) The ontological turn within cultural anthropology: Thinking through things?
    10) The ontological turn within cultural anthropology: Extended mind hypothesis.
    11) The ontological turn within cultural anthropology: An idea of antirepresentationalism.
    12) Perspectivism: Relativism without representations.
    13) Wrap-up and students evaluation
Literature
  • Harre, R./Krausz, M.,Varieties of Relativism. Cambridge Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1996
  • LAKATOS, I., The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978
  • SIEGEL, H. (1987) Relativism Refuted: A Critique of Contemporary Epistemological Relativism. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.
  • PALEČEK, Martin, and Mark RISJORD. "Relativism and the ontological turn within anthropology." Philosophy of the Social Sciences 43.1 (2013): 3-23
  • KRAUS, M. (eds.), Relativism: Interpretation and Confrontation, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, 1989
  • HATCH, E., Culture and Morality: the Relativity of Values in Anthropology, New York: Columbia
  • RISJORD, M. W., Woodcutters and Witchcraft: Rationality and Interpretive Change in the Social Sciences. Albany NY: SUNY Press, 2000
  • HACKING, I., The Social Construction of What? Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1999
  • STICH, S., Fragmentation of Reason: Preface to a Pragmatic Theory of Cognitive Evaluation, The MIT Press, 1993
  • BARRY, D. K., Forms of Life and Following Rules. A Wittgensteinian Defence of Relativism, Leiden, 1996
  • BAGHRAMINA, M., Relativism, London and New York: Routledge, 2004
  • HERSKOVITS, M. J., Further Comments on Boas, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 58, No. 4, Aug. 1956, p. 734).
  • BLOOR, D., Knowledge and Social Imagery. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992
  • WINCH, Peter. Idea sociální vědy a její vztah k filosofii. Translated by Tomáš Suchomel. Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 2004, 134 s. ISBN 8073250357. info
  • PINKER, Steven. The blank slate : the modern denial of human nature. New York: Penguin Books, 2003, xvi, 509. ISBN 0142003344. info
  • FULLER, Steve. Social Epistemology. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002. info
  • FAY, Brian. Současná filosofie sociálních věd : multikulturní přístup. Translated by Jana Ogrocká. Vyd. 1. Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství, 2002, 324 s. ISBN 8086429105. info
  • GEERTZ, Clifford. Interpretace kultur :vybrané eseje. Translated by Hana Červinková - Václav Hubinger - Hedvika Humlíčková. Vyd. 1. Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství, 2000, 565 s. ISBN 8085850893. info
  • ARCHER, Margaret Scotford. Culture and agency : the place of culture in social theory. Rev. ed. New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 1996, xxix, 351. ISBN 0521564417. URL info
  • RORTY, Richard. Objectivity, relativism, and truth : philosophical papers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, x, 226. ISBN 0521409152. info
  • WOOLGAR, Steve and Bruno LATOUR. Laboratory life : the construction of scientific facts. 1st print. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986, 294 s. ISBN 0-691-02832-X. info
  • Beyond objectivism and relativismscience, hermeneutics, and praxis. Edited by Richard J. Bernstein. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983, xix, 284 p. ISBN 9780812205503. info
  • Rationality and relativism. Edited by Martin Hollis - Steven Lukes. 1st MIT Press ed. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1982, viii, 312. ISBN 0262580616. info
  • HERSKOVITS, Melville J. Cultural relativism : perspectives in cultural pluralism. Edited by Frances S. Herskovits. 1st Vintage books ed. New York: Vintage Books, 1973, xxvi, 292. ISBN 0394718798. info
  • KUHN, Thomas S. The structure of scientific revolutions. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago press, 1970, xii, 210 s. ISBN 0-226-45803-2. info
Teaching methods
Lectures and discussions
Assessment methods
Students will pass a final test. The test consists of 30 questions with 30 points. 25 points will be necessary for successful passing of the test
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
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