Thanks to the powers of imperialism and colonialism in Western society, its history is littered with racist descriptions, depictions and attitudes towards what modern anthropology would call the “cultural other.” This has led to excessive stereotyping and belittling of the global East and South. With this in mind, is it ever appropriate to make moral judgments about human cultures and societies apart from one’s own?
The first question to consider in this pursuit is whether any culture possesses the moral high ground. Is there anyone culture that can claim objective superiority? This may only be determined by the presence of some universal ethical standard by which all humans operate. The best way to gather evidence to compile this definition would be to assess laws and codes not only from around the world but through varying time periods, for universal application includes not only present cultures but those of the past. Sufficient evidence for the presence of a universal moral standard includes patterns of morality, or shared commands. For example, human cultures generally seem to negatively regard or altogether condemn practices concerning murder and theft. Another resource for testing universality in morality would include Scripture. Not only does Paul in Romans 1-2 discuss how it is the “Gentiles” who are held morally culpable due to general revelation, but all humans are created in the imago Dei. As God Himself distinguishes between right and wrong, so do His people in reflection of their Creator.
If it is true that all humans function under a universal ethical standard, will moral judgments of human cultures adhere to these shared principles of morality? Quite frankly, the validity of this statement is not reliant on the societies being observed. Rather, it falls to the task of the observer to ensure that their moral judgments of human culture only relate to objective moral principles. An easy way to prevent this unbiased judgment is through ethnocentrism, in which one centers their ethnic perspective and uses their home culture to measure another. This easily lends itself to the devaluing and mischaracterization of any human society separate from one’s own. Such sentiment is potentially present even in the beginning prompt, as the term “other” is located in front of “societies.” To properly “other” a human culture, the observer has inherently assumed that the standards of their society are the standard that others must seek to achieve. However, yet another issue in morally interpreting culture concerns an entirely subjective perspective. The observer may conclude that something may only be either right or wrong as it follows context-specific criteria, indicating a type of moral relativism to adequately honor the variety present within human culture.
Thus, if moral superiority can be attributed to no culture due to the presence of objective morality and if moral judgments concerning human culture adhere to these shared principles, then it is appropriate to make moral judgments about human cultures and societies.
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