10/11 William Graham Sumner, “Folkways”; Recommended: Ruth Benedict “Anthropology and the Abnormal” (both in Moser and Carson)

Theme: Anthropological arguments for ethical relativism

1. What are instincts, customs, folkways, and mores, and how are they connected?

2. For Sumner, in what way does need and interest shape the folkways?

3. How should we interpret the apparent contradiction found between Sumner’s claim that there are no universal standards for truth and right and his claim that rationality, science, and Christian civilization are superior to other cultures? Is he an objectivist or a relativist?