Marsha said:
RELATIVITY:
the tallest dwarf
meeting the smallest giant
- same size
dmb says:
No, that's not what relativity means. Relativity means there is no standard by
which to measure things like truth and moral values.
What you have above is merely three sets of relations.
The dwarf is tallest in relation to other dwarves.
The giant is the smallest when compared to other giants.
In relation to each other, the dwarf and the giant are the same size.
As a practical matter, these relations do not depend on one's perspective or
worldview. It just depends on whether or not you can get all the dwarfs and
giants to stand next to a measuring tape. That's how you know you've got the
tallest dwarf in the first place. That's how you know all other giants are
bigger. These are quantifiable facts and all three sets of relations are true
at the same time without contradiction. The term "relative" can be used to mean
"in relation to" or "by comparison with" but that doesn't have anything to do
with the objectionable philosophical stance known as relativism. If we say the
dwarf is relatively tall, we don't mean his height cannot be determined or that
his height depends on one's understanding of the term "tall".
Words and concepts are relational in a similar way. As I like to point out, the
meaning of the terms "static" and "dynamic" is relational in the sense that
"static" means the opposite of dynamic and "Dynamic" means the opposite of
static. The meaning of each term is depends on not being the other, the same
way hot and cold or short and tall define each other by opposition. Words also
derive their meaning by virtue of their relation to context in which the term
is being used. "Tall" can mean "highly exaggerated" when we're talking about
tales, it can refer to the shape of a cocktail glass when talking to a
bartender, it can mean "difficult" when we're talking about tall orders and
tall obstacles. It can refer to a proud posture or walking style as well as
actual height. Many words are very flexible and have many different meanings
depending on the context but again this is to say that meaning is relational,
not relative to the user. Words mean what they mean in relation to oth
er words and in relation to the context in which it's being used. In other
words, we can't isolate the meaning of a term because it derives it's meaning
from the whole language system. This is the net of jewels idea applied to
words. Similarly, some philosophers talk about our "web" of beliefs. This image
get across the idea that some concepts are more central than others, which is
probably true.
Compared to the top of Mount Everest and the tallest short guy, the Empire
State Building is shorter and taller at the same time. These are not relative
truths or opposed claims or two different views. It's merely two different
comparisons, two different facts. The building is never going to be taller than
the mountain and it'll never be shorter than any person, not even the tallest
giant. I don't mean to be some kind of yard-stick fundamentalist. I'm just
saying that relations are just as real as anything else and it's a part of what
it means for something to be true and right. This could be called relationalism
or relationism or wholism or contextualism or situationalism. But relativity or
relativism is something else entirely. It's the philosophical equivalent of
combining halitosis with leprosy.
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