An Analysis of the Myth of Cultural Equivalence

In the spirit of Charles Sanders Peirce, one should begin where one is, not that one has much choice in the matter. On the other hand, one need not stay where one is. Accordingly, we shall begin with the notion that we, the generic “we,” know what we are talking about, namely, that we have some clear idea of cultures, and what it might be for cultures to be equivalent or not equivalent, and that the issue is a factual one, namely, whether cultures are or are not equivalent.

Assuming that all this makes sense, it would seem pretty obvious that cultures are not equivalent. For example, three major argument lines would tend to that likelihood, the Probabilities Argument, the Internal-Division Argument, and the Change Argument. These arguments might be sketched out as follows.