Nietzsche\'s Lack of Cultural Relativism

Nietzsche's Lack Of Cultural Relativism

"Cultural relativism is associated with a general tolerance and respect for difference, which refers to the idea that cultural context is critical to an understanding of people's values, beliefs and practices" (EBSCO). This means that when one encounters individual from different cultures or hears of exceedingly different cultural practices, one needs to view these differences with a strong amount of sensitivity and perspective. The reasons for this are twofold: on the one hand it comes from the necessity of offering human beings a fundamental level of decency and respect. On the other hand it means that notions as to whether an action is right or wrong revolves entirely around whether an action is believed to be right or wrong by members of its culture.

Nietzsche does not endorse cultural relativism because if he did, his words and opinions would have to demonstrate the telltale signs of sensitivity for other cultures that cultural relativists are characterized by. For example, Nietzsche rips apart Christian ideals and beliefs, particularly the notion that Christians feel guilty for their natural instincts and desires and essentially repent and deem themselves unworthy simply for being human. As Nietzsche says:

"Guilt before God: this thought becomes an instrument of torture for him… This

is a kind of madness of the will in psychic cruelty that has absolutely no equal; the will of man to find himself guilty and reprehensible to the point that it cannot be atoned for; his will to imagine himself punished without the possibility of the punishment ever becoming equivalent to the guilt; his will to infect and make poisonous the deepest ground of things with the problem of punishment and guilt in order to cut off the way out of this labyrinth of 'idee fixes' once and for all; his will to erect an ideal -- that of the holy God -- in order, in the face of the same, to be tangibly certain of his absolute unworthiness. Oh this insane sad beast man!"

(Nietzsche, 1288).

This clearly demonstrates more than simply a sheer intolerance for the beliefs of other people but a profound disrespect which orbits around a sense of mockery and derision. Cultural relativism doesn't offer such criticism and profound judgement for other cultures such as this. While certain cultural relativists might disagree with the beliefs or practices of members of other cultures, there absolutely wouldn't be this level of condemnation and ridicule.