Relativism: A Contemporary Anthology

The essays in this volume 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-relative, that is, to some context or frame of reference-and that no absolute standards can adjudicate between competing frames.This anthology captures the significance and range of relativistic doctrines, rehearsing their virtues and vices and reflecting a spectrum of attitudes toward relativism. Invoking diverse philosophical orientations, these doctrines concern conceptions of relativism in relation pluralism and moral relativism, facts and conceptual schemes, realism and objectivity, solidarity and rationality, universalism and foundationalism, and feminism and poststructuralism. The thirty-three essays in this book include nine original works and many classical articles. Contributors include Kwame Anthony Appiah, Maria Baghramian, Akeel Bilgrami, Simon Blackburn, Nancy Cartwright, Donald Davidson, Clifford Geertz, Nelson Goodman, Gilbert Harman, David Hoy, David Lyons, Maurice Mandelbaum, Joseph Margolis, Jitendra Mohanty, Thomas Nagel, Martha Nussbaum, Hilary Putnam, Richard Rorty, Amartya Sen, Harvey Siegel, Gopal Sreenivasan, Charles Taylor, David Wiggins, Bernard Williams, David Wong, and Crispin Wright.