| Since I have no idea what you are talking about let me jump in here with unfounded opinion and reckless abandon. Relativism is a much wielded intellectual, or at least philosophical instrument I find interesting. According to Paul Johnson (Modern Times) the concept of relativism is the step-child, or perhaps more accurately bastard child, of Einstein's theory of relativity. This is a huge irony. Some rather shallow (don't take this personally) populist social application of Einstein's grand precise scientific theory has had hugely negative consequences, most profoundly in the thinking, but also in the behavior of the average guy on the street. Einstein bemoaned the fact, the results of which he could predict very early on. The practical implication for most people is that whatever they want to do is right and good. To be sure it may only be right and good for them, or for me, and not for anyone else. The beauty is they are humble enough to only claim said right for themselves. But they also claim the absolute right to ward off any "controlling authority" (if I may be so bold) from laying a claim on them. IE there is no "real" morality, only individual personal preference. The first section of the book is worth reading for further background. "The modern world began 29 May 1919 when photographs of a solar eclipse....", thus began relativity. But, "for most people, relativity never became more than a vague source of unease ...at a popular level the belief began to circulate that there were no longer any absolutes of time and space, of good and evil, of knowledge, above all of value." Relativity became confused with relativism. This allows a world where anything is possible, in the worst sense of the phrase for the less discerning or disciplined. And we are getting a lot of it, imo, not least in our public life. OK, time to wake up and go play. I know that in the current discourse this is irrelevant, or is that irrelative? |
