Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Essay examples -- Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two tell apart terms that are displayed by different hatful altogether all over the world. Simply put, ethnocentrism is defined as judging some other groups from the perspective of one(a)s own cultural point of view. Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is defined as the view that all views are equally logical and that truth itself is relative, depending on the situation, environment, and individual. Each of these ideas has found its way into the minds of people worldwide. The unmanageable part is attempting to understand why an individual portrays one or the other. It is a question that anthropologists have been asking themselves for years. Ethnocentrism, as stated above, means the belief that ones own culture is above and beyond all other cultures. Although this is somewhat of a shallow definition, it still provides an adequate chronicle of a very complex issue. We see ethnocentrism every single day, in all aspects of life. The United States of America is a prime example of ethnocentrism is action. The people of this country have a tendency to disregard other cultures, kinda believing that American culture is the only way to go. This is not to verify that this is how everyone thinks, although most people, at one time or another, have had thoughts on these lines. After the terrorist attack of 9/11, there was an immediate shift into closely hatred of any person of Arabic descent...