relativism en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree English relative Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English relativism From relative + -ism.
Meanings
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(uncountable) The theory, especially in ethics or aesthetics, that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them.
We thus reach a position of extreme relativism: different 'truths' may be useful in different historical situations, and it is quite possible that any truth is valid only for a particular epoch or social class.
1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 442:
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(countable) A specific such theory, advocated by a particular philosopher or school of thought.
Following Gilbert Harman’s lead, my own formulation of relativism about the normative domain was based on the classic examples of thoroughgoing relativisms drawn from physics.
2008, Paul Boghossian, “Replies to Wright, MacFarlane and Sosa”, in Philosophical Studies, volume 141, number 3, page 413:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| relativisms | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
hyperrelativism · cognitive relativism · moral relativism · antirelativism · ethnorelativism · factual relativism
Relateds
Translations (27)
ar نِسْبَوِيَّة (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · pt relativismo (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · ru релятиви́зм (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · es relativismo (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · ms nisbiah (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · gl relativismo (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · fr relativisme (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · de Relativismus (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · hy ռելյատիվիզմ (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · fi relativismi (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · sh релативизам (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · ky релятивизм (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · ms relativisme (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · af relativisme (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · ja 相対主義 (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · pl relatywizm (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · it relativismo (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · ca relativisme (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · fi suhteellisuusajattelu (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · cs relativismus (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · ba релятивизм (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · sh relativizam (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · nb relativisme (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · cmn 相對主義 /相对主义 (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · ro relativism (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · ga coibhneasacht (theory that truth and moral values are relative) · kk релятивизм (theory that truth and moral values are relative)