Factual relativism
Factual relativism (also called epistemic relativism, epistemological relativism, alethic relativism, and cognitive relativism) argues that truth is relative. According to factual relativism, facts used to justify claims are understood to be relative and subjective to the perspective of those proving or falsifying the proposition.[1]
This form of relativism has its own particular problem, what Maurice Mandelbaum in 1962 termed the "self-excepting fallacy." Largely because of the self-excepting fallacy, few authors in the philosophy of science accept alethic cognitive relativism.[2]
Viewpoints
One school of thought compares scientific knowledge to the mythology of other cultures, arguing that it is merely our society's set of myths based on societal assumptions. Paul Feyerabend's comments in Against Method that "The similarities between science and myth are indeed astonishing" and "First-world science is one science among many" (from the introduction to the Chinese edition) are sometimes cited, although it is not clear whether Feyerabend meant them to be taken entirely seriously.[3]
The
Yves Winkin, a Belgian professor of communications, responded to a popular trial in which two witnesses gave contradicting testimony by telling the newspaper Le Soir that "There is no transcendent truth. [...] It is not surprising that these two people, representing two very different professional universes, should each set forth a different truth. Having said that, I think that, in this context of public responsibility, the commission can only proceed as it does."[7]
The philosopher of science Gérard Fourez wrote, "What one generally calls a fact is an interpretation of a situation that no one, at least for the moment, wants to call into question."[8]
British archaeologist Roger Anyon told The New York Times that "science is just one of many ways of knowing the world... The Zuni's world view is just as valid as the archeological viewpoint of what prehistory is about."[9]
According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Relativism has been, in its various guises, both one of the most popular and most reviled philosophical doctrines of our time. Defenders see it as a harbinger of tolerance and the only ethical and epistemic stance worthy of the open-minded and tolerant. Detractors dismiss it for its alleged incoherence and uncritical intellectual permissiveness."[10]
Related views and criticism
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Larry Laudan's book Science and Relativism outlines the various philosophical points of view on the subject in the form of a dialogue.[11]
Cognitive relativism has been criticized by both
See also
Notes
- ^ Iris Einheuser, "Varieties of Relativism: Indexical, Propositional and Factual", from the Logos conference on RELATIVIZING UTTERANCE TRUTH, Barcelona, 2005.
- ^ JSTOR 1251141.
- ISBN 9780860916468.
- ^ "PhilosophyScience2". Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ISBN 9780262580618.
- ISBN 9780674792913.
- ISBN 9781466862401.
- ^ Fourez, Gérard (1992). La Construction des sciences, 2eme edition revue. Brussels:De Boeck Université.
- ^ Johnson, George. Indian Tribes' Creationists Thwart Archeologists, The New York Times, October 22, 1996
- ^ a b Baghramian, Maria; Carter, J. Adam (2018), "Relativism", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2018 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2019-10-08
- ISBN 978-0-226-46949-2
References
- ISBN 0-415-16150-9
- ISBN 0-521-33798-4
- ISBN 0915144514
- ISBN 9780262580618
- Jack W. Meiland, Michael Krausz, Relativism, Cognitive and Moral, Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1982, ISBN 0-268-01611-9
- Diederick Raven, Lieteke van Vucht Tijssen, Jan de Wolf, Cognitive Relativism and Social Science, 1992, ISBN 0-88738-425-0
- Markus Seidel, Epistemic Relativism: A Constructive Critique, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, ISBN 978-1-137-37788-3
External links
- Factual relativism at PhilPapers
- Epistemic relativism at PhilPapers
- "Epistemology and Relativism". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Westacott, E. Cognitive Relativism, 2006, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Westacott, E. Relativism, 2005, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy