Understanding Ethical Frameworks and Human Diversity
Criteria for Genuine Solutions
Not all solutions are valid. For many centuries, it was thought that women were inferior to men, that children were the property of parents, etc. Slavery has been an accepted cruelty throughout many centuries. Tyrannies have been the most common form of government. These “solutions” have produced injustices and horrors, and have violated human dignity, so we must reject them as bad. We can establish these criteria:
- Values and standards must be compatible with each other and meet the needs of human nature.
- The lifestyle defended must be fair and desirable to any intelligent person capable of putting themselves in another’s place.
- The solution must be universalizable; it must hold for all. One cannot have a solution for white people and another for black people.
- It must be verified that the effects are beneficial.
Relativism
Relativism posits that good and bad cannot be defined in absolute terms. Good and bad vary from one place to another and from one era to another. We should respect other cultures and accept them as they are. This could imply accepting stoning, cannibalism, etc.
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism is the belief that one culture is superior to others. Its values are considered valid, and the values of other cultures are deemed wrong. This has historically led to imperialism, such as the Romans trying to expand into other lands.
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism asserts that we must respect other cultures, but with conditions, and subject to compliance with human rights.
The Origin of Human Skin Color
The color of our skin is determined by a substance called melanin. Melanin’s function is to protect us from the sun’s rays, which can cause melanoma or skin cancer. Melanin is produced by an enzyme called tyrosinase, which is responsible for coloring our skin to a greater or lesser degree. It is very important because if the gene responsible for its synthesis is defective, the result is albinism, a condition where a person does not have the ability to produce melanin. Our body’s ability to darken the skin depends mainly on the information in our genes. White children generate genes that result in very light skin. According to Marvin Harris, one of the most influential anthropologists, early humans must have had dark skin. Dark skin is very useful to protect from the sun’s rays. Children born with lighter skin were less likely to survive, and this was regarded as a disease, with those individuals considered weak from birth.
Difference Between Racism and Xenophobia
Racism is the belief that there are races inferior to others and that they do not have the same rights. Arguments used by racists include:
- The Intelligence Test: In the U.S., white people obtained more points than black people. Some racists drew the conclusion that white people are intellectually superior. Against this, we can say that white and black people do not have the same cultural conditions.
- White people have always been ahead in scientific and technical development, except for ancient Egypt.
Xenophobia is the fear or hatred of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange.
Apartheid
White settlers were convinced that black people had no right over the land they had always inhabited. They considered the land their own and, in 1948, instituted apartheid, which included the prohibition of interracial marriages, depriving black people of voting rights, and placing them in separate quarters.
Texts of Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr.
Mandela
The main idea is the need for equal political rights for all. Secondary ideas include that only then could black people truly leave their minority status, and only then could there be a true democracy. This would ensure that no group imposes itself on another, leading to racial harmony and equality of opportunity.
Martin Luther King Jr.
(The provided text does not contain information about Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas.)