What I take from Cosmopolitanism is that it is important to understand the value systems in place in different cultures. For example, Appiah uses the example of a doctor trying to save a Jehovah’s Witness from dying of blood loss with a transfusion. However, the woman’s culture prohibits the donation of blood through a strict interpretation of the Bible verse prohibiting eating blood. As a doctor, it is your job to save her life if you have the ability to do so. What do you do in this situation?
This somewhat reminds me of the arguments concerning keeping someone alive who has suffered such extreme brain damage that they will not wake up and will not be able to live without machines keeping them alive. In these cases it is up to the family of the individual or the individual’s living will to determine whether to keep this person alive. If you remember the case of Terry Schiavo from a few years ago, her husband wanted to remove her feeding tube while her parents wanted to keep her alive. The doctors had the ability to keep her alive indefinitely despite quality of life arguments against doing so. The court case ended with the determination that her feeding tube should be removed.
This video is heavily biased against the results of the Terry Schiavo case, indicating the differences in opinions on ethical standards felt by people even within the United States.
In these kinds of situations we expect the individual’s in question to decide for themselves in advance whether to live in a vegetative state or to choose to die. While it is unlike the blood transfusion question above in that the doctor is unable to fully cure the individual, it is similar in that a person’s individual quality of life wishes are important and respected when they are expressed.
This may seem an argument in favor of cultural relativism but it is not. In both of these cases the question was down to individual preference in societies that enabled the individual to make informed decisions regarding consent (I am assuming in the case of the Jehovah’s Witness). Since Terry Schiavo did not have a living will it was unknown what she would have wanted herself, but there was significant input from family and the judicial system attempting to do what was best for her with significant input from both sides. I think individual preference should be respected, however when it is the result of a culture’s standards and values it becomes more difficult to navigate. If I grew up a Jehovah’s Witness I would likely not want a blood transfusion either and I would expect a doctor to respect my wishes. However, since I did not grow up within that religion, I would prefer a blood transfusion to death.
If it is this difficult to navigate moral issues even within similar societies, how do we expect to solve cross-cultural ethical behavior? I do not think the answer is that we cannot judge, but I think there has to be some understanding given to the culture in general. Like Appiah wrote, a discussion of values and reasoning surrounding cultural practices that we disagree with are important. However, I wonder what the end goal of this sort of reasoning is. If we disagree with a practice, even after understanding the culture associated with it, are we meant to step in and end it? For example, Appiah uses the example of female circumcision. He writes that it is a practice young women are proud of and excited to go through as a test of bravery. If I still disagree with it, what do I do? Is the point of this exercise to determine that I am allowed to judge another culture’s practices or is it to determine whether I am allowed to forcibly end another culture’s practices, imposing my values on theirs? I think I am perfectly allowed to judge another culture and say it is wrong but I do not know whether I would be comfortable being the one in charge of ending it.
What I take from Cosmopolitanism is that it is important in a globalized world to be respectful and open to cultures not our own. I do not really see it as a guide to navigating issues where cultures conflict.
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