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There are really two different conclusions combined in this argument. The first conclusion is that all moral codes are on the same level because none can be shown to be superior or correct. The second conclusion is that a moral code is binding within, but not beyond, the culture of which it is a part.

I'm not going to say anything about the first conclusion. But I think the second conclusion doesn't follow at all from the premises. I think Herskovits simply assumed that each moral code was binding within its culture. I think he was naive in this respect.

For one thing, Herskovits seems not to have considered the possibility that there might be more than one moral code within a culture. In other words, he assumed that moral consensus was the normal state of things. I'm not at all sure that's true.