Question

What responsibility does a visitor from another culture have to the host culture’s way of living, thinking, and communicating? For example, should people visiting from another culture accept or engage in behaviors they find ethically wrong but which the host culture sanctions as ethically correct

Answer 1

Answer.

Culture is defined as a way of life of a group of people who share a common set of values, beliefs, customs and behaviour in which they communicate and transfer this way of life to the next generation. From this definition, it emerges that cultures across the world are marked by stark differences in terms of their definition of appropriate, valued and ethical practices and behaviours. Thus for instance, while walking with the exposed torso on the street may be unethical and unlawful in the United States, in other cultures like the Maoris of Polynesia, semi nude bodies may actually be the norm and culturally acceptable. The issue that is presented in the debate over accepting the host society’s norms of ethical behaviour pertains to the perspective of cultural relativism in ethics. According to cultural relativism, there is no universal standard of right or wrong in judging the morality of a culture as cultures differ in terms of what is expected as morally acceptable.

In the context of inter- cultural contact, cultural relativism would thus inform one to accommodate Andy modify one’s personal practices according to the cultural viewpoint of the majority members of the new society in which one finds oneself. Thus, To a large extent, acculturation and a greater cultural intermingling would require that a visitor to another culture must respect and adhere to his or her hosts’ culture if good relations are to be developed.