how can the concept of cultural relativism coexist with the notion of universal human rights
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Naturally, cultural relativists argue that there are indeed moral justifications underlying the claim that various practices and beliefs differ from society to society and should be accepted as being relative to other cultural beliefs. For example, women in some cultures that undergo female genital mutilation are regarded as “clean” and “pure”. One culture may believe that there is indeed some moral justification towards this practice, as women who don’t go through the “cut” are considered “unclean and are seen as outcasts in their societies. On the other hand, a different cultural group may practice eating of dead bodies as a ritual. Cultural relativists would therefore claim that one cannot justly say which culture is right or wrong as this proves to be relative within different cultures. It is therefore possible to say that, from the cultural relativist point of view, there is no particular ‘truth’ in what is right or wrong but rather the truth depends on what a particular culture believes is right or wrong. This observation in turn then brings me to my next point. If the views of the ‘truth’ on what is right or wrong is relative, then the issue of morality definitely plays a huge role in this debate.