Essays on Relativism: 2001-2021

The traditional Protagorean idea that the idea of absolute truth is an illusion has been discredited, but Crispin Wright has argued that relative truth can play a central and illuminating role in the theory of the workings of a number of important regions of thought and discourse. The papers gathered here chart the development of his ideas over the last two decades on three interconnected sets of issues, calling into question the claimed theoretical advantages of New Age relativism.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 07 September 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press

The classical Protagorean notion that the concept of absolute truth is an illusion, with only one's truth, my truth, or perhaps our truth and their truth, has long been widely discredited. However, a significant shift has occurred among professional philosophers within the analytical tradition. A number of distinguished specialists have argued that, when properly disciplined and refined, relative truth can play a central and illuminating role in the theory of the workings of various important regions of thought and discourse.

Crispin Wright has been a prominent figure in these debates. The papers collected here chart the development of his ideas over the past two decades on three interconnected sets of issues where the renaissance of relative truth has intensified interest:

The general metaphysics of relativism and whether it possesses the resources to rebut the traditional objections to it.

The significance of the "standards-variability" phenomena that seem to afflict ascriptions of knowledge and claims featuring epistemic mights and coulds.

The challenge to find the best formulation of anti-realism about certain areas of our thought and discourse, such as taste, humor, or etiquette, in such a way as to make sense of the intuitive idea that disagreement about matters within these areas can be and often is "faultless."

The overall tendency of the chapters is to question the claimed theoretical advantages of New Age relativism. As in Philosophy, the journey rather than the destination holds the key to learning.

Weight: 604g
Dimension: 164 x 241 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192845993