Relativism

Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Poland
barbara.lewandowska-tomaszczyk@konin.edu.pl

Relativism is the philosophical position that all points of view are equally valid, often applied to moral and cultural values. It asserts that all assignments of truth values to individual propositional variables are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assessed (e.g., local cultural norms, individual standards). In a philosophical sense relativism asserts that the truth of claims holds when the relevant framework of assessment isspecified or supplied. Furthermore, there can be no framework-independent vantage point from which the matter of whether the thing in question is can be established.

Forms of relativism can be distinguished in terms of their objects (e.g., truth, goodness, beauty) and their subject matters (e.g., science, law, religion). There are forms of relativism identified by Swoyer in terms of their domains or frames of reference—e.g., conceptual frameworks, cultures, historical periods, etc. Relativism is most often confronted with objectivism and realism. Objectivism is the position that cognitive, ethical and aesthetic norms and values, including truth, are independent of judgements and beliefs. For Baghramian and Carter, Realism entails both the objectivity and singularity of truth. Cultural relativism (cultural determinism), on the other hand, proposes that cultural practices of groups should be perceived in terms of their own cultural contexts. The sources of cultural relativism can also be found in anthropological linguistics with theses put forward by Franz Boas, Edward Sapir, as well as in Benjamin Lee Whorf’s linguistic relativity theory).

Keywords: beliefs, culture, judgement, objectivity, truth

Related Entries: Truth, Objectivity, Subjectivity, Worldview

References:
Baghramian, M., & Carter, J. A. (2025). Relativism. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2025/entries/relativism/
Boas, F. (1938). An anthropologist’s credo. The Nation. Retrieved from https://instruct.uwo.ca
Sapir, E. (1949). Selected writings in language, culture, and personality (D. G. Mandelbaum, Ed.). University of California Press.
Swoyer, C. (2010). Relativism. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2010/entries/relativism/
Whorf, B. L. (1964). The relation of habitual thought and behavior to language. In J. B. Carroll (Ed.), Language, thought and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf (pp. 134–159). MIT Press.