Dear Gilberto,
RE:
> If you deny that "everything goes" how, from what absolute standpoint can
> you reject some viewpoints and accept others? After all, any viewpoint can
> be established from some "specific individual's position."
You write,
"Saying "what is right for me, isn't necessarily the same as what is
right for you" is very very very different from saying "it is right
for you to do whatever the hell you want and it is right for me to do
whatever the hell I want" Actually, both views are mutually exclusive.
If you think about it, "everything goes" is arguably a universal and
absolutist moral position."
Yes, I know "everything goes" is an absolutist moral position - but it is
also self-refuting since 'everything' includes the statement 'Everything
does not go.'
It is also the inevitable (though self-contradictory) conclusion of
relativism according to which there is no absolute, neutral ground or
Archimedean standpoint from which to choose 'correctly' among various
statements, preferences or actions. If we cannot make definitive choices
among possibilities, then all of them remain viable, i.e. "everything goes."
We must remember that relativism is more than just saying "what is right for
me, isn't necessarily the same as what is right for you." Relativism says it
is impossible to know decisively which one of the two 'rights' is actually
right, correct or morally acceptable. It says that there is no absolute
neutral ground or Archidmedean standpoint on which to make a definitive
judgment.
Hence, if we accept your statement, "what is right for me, isn't necessarily
the same as what is right for you" then on what grounds can you tell someone
that he does not have the right to do what he thinks is correct - even
though that may be repugnant to you? You may reject the other person's
reasons and justifications, but there is no neutral ground or Archimedean
standpoint from which to do so?
You write,
"Or to give another example of how relativism might not lead to
"everything goes". I once had some extended conversation with a
believer in Thelema who was explaining to me how everyone had their
own True Will to which they had to be faithful. So it was relativist
in that each individual had their own True Will, but it didn't
collapse into absolute license because each person's True Will was
still something which required struggle, discipline and willpower to
achieve."
This is totally off the mark.
You are mixing up, confusing and conflating, (a) personal qualities of a
believer and (b)the truth value of his beliefs. For example, a person may be
(a) sincere (personal quality) and (b) wrong (the truth value of his belief)
about his belief that the earth is flat or that his mother hates him. The
sincerity of the belier does not guarantee the truth of the belief.
Similarly, just because a viewpoint requires "struggle, discipline and
willpower" does not free it from being relativist. Relativism is about the
truth value of statements (be they scientific, moral, etc.) not about the
qualities of the believer.
"Struggle, discipline and willpower" are personal attributes that can be
possessed by both the good and the evil. However, these personal qualities
do not support any judgment about the truth-content or moral value of their
beliefs. Hitler's elite Waffen SS possessed "struggle, discipline and
willpower" in spades - yet would you call their cause, the Nazi ideology
about race, true or morally worthwhile?
Best wishes,
Ian Kluge
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