Reflection on the Holocaust led many anthropologists and other social scientists to reconsider ethical relativism. The Holocaust also reminds us of the power of custom, law, and social authority to shape conduct. Nazi Germany relied on the expertise of engineers, as well as other professionals, in carrying out genocide, as well as its war efforts.
a. Do you agree that the Holocaust is a clear instance of where a cross-cultural judgment about moral wrong and right can be made?
b. Judging actions to be immoral is one thing: blaming persons for wrongdoing is another (where blame is a morally negative attitude toward a person). Present and defend your view about whether the Nazi engineers and other professionals are blameworthy. Is blaming pointless, because the past is past? Or is cross-cultural blame, at least in this extreme instance, an important way of asserting values that we cherish?