What is relativism?

1. 43

   Longtailposted 12 years ago

   What is relativism?

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2. 65

   Tusitala Tomposted 12 years ago

   I expect the boffins and certain schools of philosophy have definitions for the word 'relativism.'   I don't.  To me, it bespeaks of something or someone being relative to something else.  For example, if I were suspended weightless inside a white-painted chamber with no discernable light source, where there were no corners, no shadows, nothing with which I could discern shape, and if that room were sound proofed, I would be relative to nothing outside of my physical body (discounting memory, bodily functions and the like)   I would be HERE but there would be nothing or no thing there.
   
   But put a dot on the wall and...!   I am here.  It is there.  I am big, it is small.  I am this, it is that.   So I am relative now to something.  And even at that stage the comparisons begin.   Maybe that's what relativism is.  Comparison.

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3. 59

   eternals3ptemberposted 12 years ago

   well, the definition of this word really depends on how you look at it...

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4. 0

   philosophosposted 11 years ago

   In philosophy, relativism is the view that truth is relative and therefore may vary from one person or society to another.
   
   Such relativists as the ancient Greek Sophist Protagoras held that there is no universal and absolute truth knowable by man, since each man can know only his own perceptions and not objective reality. This doctrine of the relativity of knowledge is called epistemological relativism. There is also a theory of ethical relativism, which holds that there are no universal or objective moral standards. Some Greek Sophists are reputed to have held such a view. However, most philosophers have attempted to establish some objective basis for morals, citing the demands of human nature, the needs of society, the will of God, or some other ground. In the philosophy of art an aesthetic relativism is sometimes expressed in the phrase "Tastes differ," the implication being that there is no objective standard for discriminating good taste from bad taste. Relativism has also been expressed in other fields. Some cultural anthropologists, such as Franz Boas and Ruth Fulton Benedict, have insisted that there is no universal standard for measuring social values.

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