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Relativism
Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to absolute objectivity within a particular domain and assert that valuations in that domain are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assessed. There are many different forms of relativism, with a great deal of variation in scope and differing degrees of controversy among them. ''Moral relativism'' encompasses the differences in moral judgments among people and cultures. '' Epistemic relativism'' holds that there are no absolute principles regarding normative belief, justification, or rationality, and that there are only relative ones. '' Alethic relativism'' (also factual relativism) is the doctrine that there are no absolute truths, i.e., that truth is always relative to some particular frame of reference, such as a language or a culture (cultural relativism), while linguistic relativism asserts that a language's structures influence a speaker's perceptions. Some forms of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moral Relativism
Moral relativism or ethical relativism (often reformulated as relativist ethics or relativist morality) is used to describe several Philosophy, philosophical positions concerned with the differences in Morality, moral judgments across different peoples and cultures. An advocate of such ideas is often referred to as a relativist. ''Descriptive ethics, Descriptive'' moral relativism holds that people do, in fact, disagree fundamentally about what is moral, without passing any evaluative or normative judgments about this disagreement. ''Meta-ethics, Meta-ethical'' moral relativism holds that moral judgments contain an (implicit or explicit) Indexicality, indexical such that, to the extent they are truth-apt, their Truth value, truth-value changes with context of use. ''Normative ethics, Normative'' moral relativism holds that everyone ''ought'' to tolerate the behavior of others even when large disagreements about morality exist. Though often intertwined, these are distinct positions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Factual Relativism
Factual relativism (also called epistemic relativism, epistemological relativism, alethic relativism, and cognitive relativism) is the philosophical belief that certain facts are not absolute but depend on the perspective from which they are being evaluated. It challenges the assumption that all facts are objective and universally valid. According to factual relativism, facts used to justify claims are shaped by social, cultural, or conceptual frameworks, making them subjective and relative. History and development Factual relativism is rooted in the idea that the standards for what counts as a rational belief can change depending on cultural or conceptual perspectives. This challenges the traditional view that there are objective, universal standards for determining what is true and rational. There are three main ideas behind factual relativism. The first is that the justification of beliefs depends on the context they are observed from. This challenges the idea of objectivit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism is the view that concepts and moral values must be understood in their own cultural context and not judged according to the standards of a different culture. It asserts the equal validity of all points of view and the relative nature of truth, which is determined by an individual or their culture. The concept was established by anthropologist Franz Boas, who first articulated the idea in 1887: "civilization is not something absolute, but...is relative, and... our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes". However, Boas did not use the phrase "cultural relativism". The concept was spread by Boas' students, such as Robert Lowie. The first use of the term recorded in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' was by philosopher and social theorist Alain Locke in 1924 to describe Lowie's "extreme cultural relativism", found in the latter's 1917 book ''Culture and Ethnology''. The term became common among anthropologists after Boas' de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maria Baghramian
Maria Baghramian (born 21 March 1954) is a philosopher and historian of philosophy. She is Full Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy, University College Dublin (UCD) and Professor II, at Department of Philosophy, University of Oslo (2023-2026). She was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) in 2010 and a member of Academia Europaea in 2022. Baghramian has published twelve authored and edited books as well as articles and book chapters on topics in epistemology and twentieth century American Philosophy. She was the Chief Editor of the ''International Journal of Philosophical Studies'' (IJPS) from 2003 to 2013. She was the co-editor of '' Contemporary Pragmatism'' (2014–2022). Education and career Baghramian graduated from Queen's University Belfast in Philosophy and Social Anthropology (1983) with a Double First. She received a PhD from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in Philosophy of Logic under the supervision of Timothy Williamson (1990). Baghramian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universality (philosophy)
Universalism is the Philosophy, philosophical and Theology, theological concept within Christianity that some ideas have Universal (metaphysics), universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is seen as more far-reaching than the national, cultural, or religious boundaries or interpretations of that one truth. A community that calls itself ''universalist'' may emphasize the universal principles of most religions, and accept others in an inclusive manner. In the modern context, universalism can also mean the Western pursuit of unification of all human beings across geographic and other boundaries under Western values, or the application of really universal or universalist constructs, such as human rights or international law. Universalism has had an influence on modern-day Hinduism, in turn influencing modern Western spirituality. Christian universalism refers to the idea that every human ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Objectivity (philosophy)
The distinction between subjectivity and objectivity is a basic idea of philosophy, particularly epistemology and metaphysics. Various understandings of this distinction have evolved through the work of countless philosophers over centuries. One basic distinction is: *Something is subjective if it is dependent on a mind ( biases, perception, emotions, opinions, imagination, or conscious experience). Solomon, Robert C.br>"Subjectivity" in Honderich, Ted. '' Oxford Companion to Philosophy'' (Oxford University Press, 2005), p.900. If a claim is true exclusively when considering the claim from the viewpoint of a sentient being, it is subjectively true. For example, one person may consider the weather to be pleasantly warm, and another person may consider the same weather to be too hot; both views are subjective. *Something is objective if it can be confirmed independently of a mind. If a claim is true even when considering it outside the viewpoint of a sentient being, then it may be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linguistic Relativity
Linguistic relativity asserts that language influences worldview or cognition. One form of linguistic relativity, linguistic determinism, regards peoples' languages as determining and influencing the scope of cultural perceptions of their surrounding world. Various colloquialisms refer to linguistic relativism: the Whorf hypothesis; the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis ( ); the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis; and Whorfianism. The hypothesis is in dispute, with many different variations throughout its history. The ''strong hypothesis'' of linguistic relativity, now referred to as linguistic determinism, is that language ''determines'' thought and that linguistic categories limit and restrict cognitive categories. This was a claim by some earlier linguists pre-World War II; (a debate between university professors) since then it has fallen out of acceptance by contemporary linguists. Nevertheless, research has produced positive empirical evidence supporting a ''weaker'' version of linguistic re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophical Skepticism
Philosophical skepticism (UK spelling: scepticism; from Ancient Greek, Greek σκέψις ''skepsis'', "inquiry") is a family of philosophical views that question the possibility of knowledge. It differs from other forms of skepticism in that it even rejects very plausible knowledge claims that belong to basic common sense. Philosophical skeptics are often classified into two general categories: Those who acatalepsy, deny all possibility of knowledge, and those who advocate for the Suspension_of_judgment, suspension of judgment due to the inadequacy of evidence. This distinction is modeled after the differences between the Academic skepticism, Academic skeptics and the Pyrrhonian skeptics in ancient Greek philosophy. Pyrrhonian skepticism is a practice of suspending judgement, and skepticism in this sense is understood as a way of life that helps the practitioner achieve inner peace. Some types of philosophical skepticism reject all forms of knowledge while others limit this rej ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Sense
Common sense () is "knowledge, judgement, and taste which is more or less universal and which is held more or less without reflection or argument". As such, it is often considered to represent the basic level of sound practical judgement or knowledge of basic facts that any adult human being ought to possess. It is "common" in the sense of being shared by nearly all people. Relevant terms from other languages used in such discussions include the aforementioned Latin, itself translating Ancient Greek ('), and French '. However, these are not straightforward translations in all contexts, and in English different shades of meaning have developed. In philosophical and scientific contexts, since the Age of Enlightenment the term "common sense" has been used for rhetorical effect both approvingly and disapprovingly. On the one hand it has been a standard for good taste, good sense, and source of scientific and logical axioms. On the other hand it has been equated to conventional wisdom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rationality
Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reason. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do, or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an ability, as in a rational animal, to a psychological process, like reasoning, to mental states, such as beliefs and intentions, or to persons who possess these other forms of rationality. A thing that lacks rationality is either ''arational'', if it is outside the domain of rational evaluation, or '' irrational'', if it belongs to this domain but does not fulfill its standards. There are many discussions about the essential features shared by all forms of rationality. According to reason-responsiveness accounts, to be rational is to be responsive to reasons. For example, dark clouds are a reason for taking an umbrella, which is why it is rational for an agent to do so in response. An important rival to this approach are coherence-based ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
