Welcome to our blog.
Who are we? We are a group of philosophers who are all members of, or are closely associated with, the ERC project “The Emergence of Relativism” at the University of Vienna. You can find out more about (most of) us here, and about the project here. Beyond our common interest in relativism, we have very diverse philosophical perspectives. We come from different philosophical backgrounds (some of us work primarily historically, some of us primarily systematically), have different specialisms (including, amongst others: history of philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of science, moral philosophy, philosophy of language, and metaphysics), and are at different career stages (some of us are students, some are postdocs, and one is a professor). Why are we starting this blog? We wanted a place to start a conversation about relativism. Relativism is the key theme in all of our research, but it is a particularly contentious philosophical thesis. Most philosophers (both historically and today) take attributions of relativism to a view or author to be objections, and so we think that there is a special need for a public forum where it is taken seriously. Moreover, we think that our work on relativism connects with political and social issues in an important way. Relativism (of various stripes) is often thought to be associated with oppressive or facist politics, to be in opposition to truth, and to undermine the authority of experts. Although our group has diverse views, all of us think that these characterisations are at best over-simplifications, or at worst just false. In fact, we think that certain forms of relativism can offer ways to resist these troubling politics and attitudes. Given recent developments in Europe and the United States, persuading people of this strikes us as an increasingly urgent task, and so a place where we can make the case for the connection between our research and these issues both directly, and quickly, strikes us as important. What can you expect from us? Most of the time you can expect short, research-focused pieces, that seek to give you an insight into some of the most cutting-edge work on relativism, and will often (we hope) also help you to think about some of the most pressing and troubling issues that the world faces today. In addition to this, we already have plans to interview some of the key figures in contemporary relativism debates, comment on current events, and report on our other research activities (such as conferences). We hope to appeal to a broad audience. Whether you are an established philosopher, a student, or an interested non-professional, we think that you will find something thought-provoking here. Most posts will be in English, but we may have some posts in German too. To begin with, we will post a minimum of once per month. Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or suggestions then please leave a comment.
5 Comments
Gregory Todd
1/24/2017 05:34:17 am
If Conway's claimed relativization of "facts" is not appropriate, on the grounds that relativizing facts TO the Trump administration (or to its access-to-facts) is nit appropriate, when COULD relativism about facts (or, if they are the same, metaphysical or ontological relativism) be appropriate? We know that fact data are relative with respect to Einstein's reference frames, when these begin to move relative to each other at tremendous speeds; but this would not license metaphysical/ontological/factual relativism within the reference frame, which is where all find ourselves.
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1/25/2017 09:12:42 am
Thanks for your question. There are a number of different variables that someone could try to argue that facts are relative to. A couple I mentioned in the post are social groups and individuals, but others include scientific paradigms (a la Thomas Kuhn), and conceptual schemes. And I think the most common (and probably most plausible) arguments would restrict their scope to certain sets of facts, for example just moral facts.
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Thomas J Canavan
1/27/2017 01:06:57 pm
Nice site. Not sure how to become aware of new postings. Will I get them by email, or do I have to check in regularly to the website?
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1/30/2017 12:23:00 am
Hi Thomas - glad that you like the site! And good question. You have two options (other than checking in regularly yourself). You can either subscribe to our RSS feed (using the orange button up on the right of the page), or you can follow us on facebook or twitter and we'll send out notifications of new posts that way.
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David
1/30/2017 07:27:19 am
Hi, Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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