Recent decades have witnessed the extraordinary growth of radical relativism, a doctrine which now dominates the entire culture, from popular music to journalism and from religion to school curricula. According to the radical relativist creed, any proposition can be true or false in relation to a chosen framework, the evaluation of fundamental theories or 'paradigms' is beyond argument, there are no universal standards of rationality, and, methodologically, 'Anything goes!'. As James Harris explains in Against Relativism, ...
Read More
Recent decades have witnessed the extraordinary growth of radical relativism, a doctrine which now dominates the entire culture, from popular music to journalism and from religion to school curricula. According to the radical relativist creed, any proposition can be true or false in relation to a chosen framework, the evaluation of fundamental theories or 'paradigms' is beyond argument, there are no universal standards of rationality, and, methodologically, 'Anything goes!'. As James Harris explains in Against Relativism, the new relativism undoes the work of the Enlightenment and inevitably leads to the conclusion that Galileo was wrong to insist that the Earth indeed moves. Succor for relativism has come from many philosophical schools, both Analytic and 'Continental'. Among the sources of the new relativism are the collapse of Logical Positivism and the shift within anthropology from a linear evolutionary model to numerous models for understanding human culture. In this detailed critique, Professor Harris has selected the strongest and most plausible arguments for relativism within contemporary academic philosophy. He turns the techniques of relativism against relativism itself, showing that it is ultimately self-refuting or otherwise ineffectual. He demonstrates that Quine's rejection of the analytic-synthetic distinction appeals to the very analytic truths Quine tries to dispel; that Kuhn's celebrated account of paradigms must be either self-refuting or unintelligible; that Rorty cannot avoid presuppposing the epistemological principles he attacks; and that (although feminist criticisms of science exert a welcome corrective) attempts to develop a distinctively 'feminist science'are misconceived and unhelpful to feminism. In all these discussions, the author explains the arguments he is criticizing, for the benefit of the non-specialist reader, so that this work can serve as a partisan but fair introduction to some of the most important of present-day philosophy.
Read Less
Add this copy of Against Relativism: a Philosophical Defense of Method to cart. $3.52, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Open Court.
Add this copy of Against Relativism: a Philosophical Defense of Method to cart. $7.00, very good condition, Sold by Powell's Books Chicago rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Open Court.
Add this copy of Against Relativism: a Philosophical Defense of Method to cart. $8.00, very good condition, Sold by Jonathan Grobe Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Deep River, IA, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Open Court.
Add this copy of Against Relativism: a Philosophical Defense of Method to cart. $8.00, good condition, Sold by Jonathan Grobe Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Deep River, IA, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Open Court.
Add this copy of Against Relativism: a Philosophical Defense of Method to cart. $8.12, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Open Court.
Add this copy of Against Relativism: a Philosophical Defense of Method to cart. $9.95, good condition, Sold by SuzyQBooks rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Salt Lake City, UT, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Open Court Publishing Co, U.S..
Add this copy of Against Relativism: a Philosophical Defense of Method to cart. $10.00, good condition, Sold by Windows Booksellers rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Eugene, OR, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Open Court.
Add this copy of Against Relativism: a Philosophical Defense of Method to cart. $16.00, good condition, Sold by Common Crow Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Open Court.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Octavo, paper wraps, book is in good condition and shows previous owner's signature and writing on the front flyleaf, ink notes/ underling to TOC and introduction with some stray notes thereafter, 228pp.
Add this copy of Against Relativism: a Philosophical Defense of Method to cart. $19.95, new condition, Sold by Eighth Day Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wichita, KS, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Open Court.
