Relativism is being bandied about under different guises here. One can say with conviction (and evidence) that when something (say a train blowing its whistle) is moving toward one and then passes going away from one, the sound changes pitch…*relative to the stationary observer* while to the trains engineer it remains at the same pitch. (name applied to this and light color shifts et al = Doppler affect). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect
And, when one is philosophically, ideologically, theologically or in a few other senses addressing relativism, yes, being of subjective nature (assuming that all words and concepts are by definition subjective), it [relativism] can lead to dogmatic and at the very least unsatisfying results for the one exploring the nature of reality and being. So, in this sense, how and in what context it is used needs to be addressed. A simple example is how useful in a scientific way understanding how color shifts can be in learning about the observable universe. While, at the same time recognizing how philosophically, relativism and its close kin of deconstruction can reduce all notions to the absurd. This, while entertaining and even perhaps meaningful to some, has little to do with any ultimate ontology nor epistemology. Thanks for the topic BB! On Aug 21, 10:32 pm, BB47 <[email protected]> wrote: > Relativism is something I don’t understand. I hear it often in > here. The way I understand it is that cultural relativism and moral > relativism or “any” kind of relativism poses things as “true” only in > a certain context. I know this is back to philosophy 101 for you > folks but I am asking you to help me understand this relative thing, > because I just don’t get it. > > When I hear “well you know they do it this way in India” I think > to myself, yeah, well the Inca threw children into volcanoes, does > that make it RIGHT? I am not concerned with how they do it in Mumbai > unless it remains true in some bar in Minneapolis at closing time. > > Moral and cultural relativism comes right out and tells you to your > face “there is no objective truth” > Well I an stunned! If I am going to spend my life “searching” for > something, well damitol , I want it to be the TRUTH! The ABSOLUTE > truth. Why on earth would anybody want to settle for less? “You > picked door number 4...BB! While we are saying it’s sort of true, it > is only valid in Ethiopia, and only under starry lit skies on certain > holidays past 7pm, but thanks for playing…..what do we have for him > Johnny?” > > I want to know what is RIGHT AND WRONG…..period. I want to know > WHAT TO DO people! Not the version that changes with a warmer > climate. I want to know the truth. The truth means that it can’t be > wrong under any circumstances. What value is truth if it can skip off > on you like a thrown pebble in a lake? > > I realize that "absolute" truth is….well…close…. to impossible. > Really close. Like detecting gravity waves close. It may not….(I > don’t even want to SAY it)…..it may not…even…..exist. WELL THAT > SUCKS AS FAR AS I AM CONCERED! How can someone live with something > like that? How do you sleep at night? Accepting a pseudo-truth? > That is like lying to yourself. That is like when you look in the > mirror with that angle of your face that you use? With that expression > that makes you “look pretty good?” That is what relativism is to me. > That is the best example I have for how I see relativism. > > I want the brutal truth. I always considered that the best kind, > the only kind. > > I want the un-cut unedited raw pure clear clean stabbing lightning > burn searing blow through your body supernova > hi-def symphony 18 year old girl in a bikini jump off the punk rock > stage arms outstretched swan dive into knowing feeling stroking > embracing licking the first bite of ice cream kiss the light warm > penetrating perfect swing blast pop your head light switch labyrinth > laid open streaming disc drive access paralyzing surge of calm though > the voltage of the pads when they yell “CLEAR” > > I am not going to get that am I --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
