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relativism Definition

rela·tiv·ism (-iz′əm)

noun

Philos. any theory of ethics or knowledge based on the idea that all values or judgments are relative, differing according to circumstances, persons, cultures, etc.

relativism Related Forms
rela·tiv·ist noun rel′a·tiv·is·tic adjective
relativism Usage Examples

Possessives

  • term: The term ' moral relativism ' is understood in a variety of ways.

Converse of object

  • imply: Theodorus defends Protagoras's doctrine that Man is the Measure of All Things, which Socrates takes to imply relativism.
  • argue: First, it argues that relativism provides a plausible account of moral justification.
  • reject: Bourdieu fiercely rejected the fashionable relativism that denies that the sciences can obtain genuine knowledge of the world.
  • suggest: There is nothing in Wittgenstein to suggest that such relativism or reductionism is necessary.
  • embrace: But we can avoid imperialism without embracing moral relativism.
  • simplify: This relativism simplified the relativism that is inherent in matter and and consciousness.

Adjective modifier

  • epistemic: This is the epistemic relativism that forms the basis of my kind of history.
  • epistemological: I guess epistemological relativism is alright when it supports his own religious views apparently.
  • moral: Moral relativism is also in the highest reaches of politics.
  • cultural: Cultural relativism is not an adequate foundation for democracy.
  • ethical: Moral statements were reduced to no more than moral opinions leading to ethical relativism.
  • linguistic: Rather, the arguments deal with those who actually believe that Derrida promotes linguistic relativism.

Modifies a noun

  • debate: This is because of the centrality of the gender question and its impact on the cultural relativism debate within human rights.

Noun used with modifier

  • postmodern: Here Halsey's own perspective, of what I take to be a postmodern relativism, comes to the fore.
  • post-modern: To succumb to cultural or post-modern relativism would simply leave open the field to the most powerful global forces.
  • value: Some right wing theorists support postmodernism for having a value relativism which can break down specific political allegiances across groups ( Rosenau 1992 ).
relativism Quotes

I suffer the anthropological malady diagnosed by Le¤  vi- Strauss inTristes tropiques: I find it much more difficult to suspend value judgments about the society in which I normally reside than I do abroad. It takes physical and cultural distance to gain moral detachment and political noncommitment. Relativism implies a solid measure of indifference.

—van den Berghe, Pierre L