About this book
The thirty-three essays in Relativism: A Contemporary Anthology grapple with one of the most intriguing, enduring, and far-reaching philosophical problems of our age. Relativism comes in many varieties. It is often defined as the belief that truth, goodness, or beauty is relative to some context or reference frame, and that no absolute standards can adjudicate between competing reference frames.
Michael Krausz's anthology captures the significance and range of relativistic doctrines, rehearsing their virtues and vices and reflecting on a spectrum of attitudes. Invoking diverse philosophical orientations, these doctrines concern conceptions of relativism in relation to facts and conceptual schemes, realism and objectivity, universalism and foundationalism, solidarity and rationality, pluralism and moral relativism, and feminism and poststructuralism. Featuring nine original essays, Relativism: A Contemporary Anthology also includes many classic articles, making it a standard resource for students, scholars, and researchers.
Contents
Foreword by Alan Ryan
Preface
Introduction, by Michael Krausz
Part I. Orienting Relativism
1. Mapping Relativisms, by Michael Krausz
2. A Brief History of Relativism, by Maria Baghramian
Part II. Relativism, Truth, and Knowledge
3. Subjective, Objective, and Conceptual Relativisms, by Maurice Mandelbaum
4. "Just the Facts, Ma'am!", by Nelson Goodman
5. Relativism in Philosophy of Science, by Nancy Cartwright
6. The Truth About Relativism, by Joseph Margolis
7. Making Sense of Relative Truth, by John MacFarlane
8. On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme, by Donald Davidson
9. Truth and Convention: On Davidson's Refutation of Conceptual Relativism, by Hilary Putnam
10. Conceptual Schemes, by Simon Blackburn
11. Relativizing the Facts, by Paul A. Boghossian
12. Targets of Anti-Relativist Arguments, by Harvey Siegel
13. Realism and Relativism, by Akeel Bilgrami
Part III. Moral Relativism, Objectivity, and Reasons
14. Moral Relativism Defended, by Gilbert Harman
15. The Truth in Relativism, by Bernard Williams
16. Pluralism and Ambivalence, by David B. Wong
17. The Relativity of Fact and the Objectivity of Value, by Catherine Z. Elgin
18. Senses of Moral Relativity, by David Wiggins
19. Ethical Relativism and the Problem of Incoherence, by David Lyons
20. Understanding Alien Morals, by Gopal Sreenivasan
21. Value: Realism and Objectivity, by Thomas Nagel
22. Intuitionism, Realism, Relativism, and Rhubarb, by Crispin Wright
23. Moral Relativism and Moral Realism, by Russ Schafer-Landau
Part IV. Relativism, Culture, and Understanding
24. Anti Anti-Relativism, by Clifford Geertz
25. Solidarity or Objectivity?, by Richard Rorty
26. Relativism, Power, and Philosophy, by Alasdair MacIntyre
27. Internal Criticism and Indian Rationalist Traditions, by Martha C. Nussbaum and Amartya Sen
28. Phenomenological Rationality and the Overcoming of Relativism, by Jitendra N. Mohanty
29. Understanding and Ethnocentricity, by Charles Taylor
30. Relativism and Cross-Cultural Understanding, by Kwame Anthony Appiah
31. Relativism, Persons, and Practices, by Amélie Oksenberg Rorty
32. One What? Relativism and Poststructuralism, by David Couzens Hoy
33. Must a Feminist Be a Relativist After All?, by Lorraine Code
List of Contributors
Index
Customer Reviews
Biography
Michael Krausz is Milton C. Nahm Professor of Philosophy at Bryn Mawr College. He is the author of Rightness and Reasons: Interpretation in Cultural Practices; Limits of Rightness; Varieties of Relativism (with Rom Harré); and Interpretation and Transformation: Explorations in Art and the Self.
