relativism
No absolute standards
Relativism is the view that truth, morality, or knowledge exists only in relation to culture, society, or individual perspective—that there are no absolute or universal standards.
Moral relativism holds that ethical judgments vary legitimately across cultures: What's considered wrong here may be acceptable elsewhere.
Cultural relativism suspends judgment when studying other societies.
Critics use relativism dismissively to suggest someone lacks firm principles: His relativism means he won't take a stand on anything.
Unrestricted governmental authority
- universalismDoctrine of total reconciliation
- objectivismBelief in external truths
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
- subjectivismBelief truth is personal
pluralism · contextualism · constructivism · pragmatism · dogmatism · foundationalism · realism · postmodernism
Way of seeing things
- standpointPosition for judgment
- frameworkUnderlying support system
- lensLight-focusing curved glass
- contextCircumstances shaping meaning
angle · vantage · interpretation · perception · outlook · orientation · paradigm · horizon
Theory of knowledge
- truthAccordance with reality
- objectivityFreedom from personal bias
- knowledgeUnderstood facts and skills
- skepticismDisposition toward doubt
justification · belief · evidence · standpoint theory · uncertainty · agnosticism · propositional · cognition
Philosophy examining moral foundations
- prescriptivismEnforcing linguistic correctness
- subjectivismBelief truth is personal
- particularismPrioritizing specific group interests
- situational ethicsMorality contingent on context
moral disagreement · tolerance · judgment · right · wrong · good · evil · conscience
System of symbolic communication
- meaningWhat something signifies
- translationConverting between languages
- interpretationAssigned meaning
- hermeneuticsStudy of interpretation methods
semantics · untranslatability · indeterminacy · holism · contextualism · discourse · signifier · reference
Study of human cultures
- ethnographySystematic study of peoples
- ethnocentrismBelief one's culture superior
- multiculturalismCoexistence of diverse traditions
- diversityState of varied elements
worldview · folkways · customs · traditions · norms · taboos · rituals · beliefs
absolutism
Unrestricted governmental authority
- universalismDoctrine of total reconciliation
- objectivismBelief in external truths
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
subjectivism · pluralism · contextualism · constructivism · pragmatism · dogmatism · foundationalism · realism · postmodernism · historicism
viewpoint
Way of seeing things
- standpointPosition for judgment
- frameworkUnderlying support system
- lensLight-focusing curved glass
context · angle · vantage · interpretation · perception · outlook · orientation · paradigm · horizon · spectrum
epistemology
Theory of knowledge
- truthAccordance with reality
- objectivityFreedom from personal bias
- knowledgeUnderstood facts and skills
skepticism · justification · belief · evidence · standpoint theory · uncertainty · agnosticism · propositional · cognition · understanding
metaethics
Philosophy examining moral foundations
- prescriptivismEnforcing linguistic correctness
- subjectivismBelief truth is personal
- particularismPrioritizing specific group interests
situational ethics · moral disagreement · tolerance · judgment · right · wrong · good · evil · conscience · virtue
language
System of symbolic communication
- meaningWhat something signifies
- translationConverting between languages
- interpretationAssigned meaning
hermeneutics · semantics · untranslatability · indeterminacy · holism · contextualism · discourse · signifier · reference · Davidson
anthropology
Study of human cultures
- ethnographySystematic study of peoples
- ethnocentrismBelief one's culture superior
- multiculturalismCoexistence of diverse traditions
diversity · worldview · folkways · customs · traditions · norms · taboos · rituals · beliefs · cultural identity
- moralitymoral, moral values, immoral, moral principles, moral code
- ismscapitalism, socialism, communism, anarchism, racism
- anthropologyanthropology, fieldwork, ethnography, social anthropology, cultural anthropology
- Ideasidealism, materialism, empiricism, rationalism, liberalism
- philosophiesempiricism, stoicism, nihilism, idealism, materialism
- philosophyethics, logic, metaphysics, ontology, epistemology
relativismabsolutism
Unrestricted governmental authority
universalism · objectivism · realism · foundationalism · essentialism
- theory of relativityPhysics of spacetime and gravity
- general relativityGravity as curved spacetime
- special relativityTheory uniting space, time
- relativity theoryPhysics of spacetime and gravity
- moral relativismValues vary by context
- theories of relativitySpacetime and gravity unified