Trying Out One's New Sword (Mary Midgley)

Question

Moral isolationism, i.e., cultural relativism fails as: (1) the best explanation of cultural diversity, (2) a foundation for tolerance and respect of other cultures, and (3) a consistent theory of morality.
What will be Arguments in Support of Main Claims?

Answer 1

Moral isolationists (cultural relativists) commonly make the claim that we cannot understand any culture except our own well enough to make judgments about it. This implies, however, several claims which moral isolationists do not usually acknowledge. These are: (1) that other cultures cannot criticize us, (2) that it is impossible to ever praise another culture, (3) that anthropologists will be unable to understand other cultures, and (4) that we cannot judge our own culture.
Moral isolationism, when carefully thought through, results in moral nihilism, since it reduces all moral judgements to trivial local quirks of one's own culture.
It is impossible to respect something that is entirely unintelligible. To the degree that one insists that other cultures must be respected and tolerated, one must deny moral isolationism.
There is no such thing as separate, unmixable cultures and hence the view that, in principle, it is impossible to understand evaluate cultures other than our own must be mistaken.