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Facing Relativism (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2020)
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Facing Relativism (Hardcover, 1st ed. 2020)
Series: Synthese Library, 425
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This book tackles the difficult task of defending relativism in the
age of science. It succeeds where others have failed by combining
the rigor of analytic philosophy with the first-hand insights of
anthropological experience. Typically, an anthropologist's work on
relativism offers rich examples of cultural diversity, but lacks
philosophical rigor, while a philosopher's work on relativism
offers rigorous argumentation, but lacks rich anthropological
examples. Facing Relativism, written by a North American
philosopher who lived in the Ecuadorian rainforest, does both.
Relativism at a global scale is a view that our claims about the
world, both theoretical and practical, are evaluable only relative
to a context shaped by factors such as culture, history, language,
and environment - or, "a way of life." It can be at once intuitive
and disturbing. While we might expect a way of life to exert some
influence on our claims, relativism seems to move to the overly
strong conclusion that all of our claims about what is true or good
must merely be expressions of cultural bias. It easily opens itself
to a host of charges, including paradox and self-contradiction.
Facing Relativism argues that such problems arise largely from a
failure to situate the view within the context that has, throughout
its long history, been its inspiration: the experience - whether
through literature, the imagination, or direct anthropological
contact - of deeply engaging with a very different way of life. By
starting with a careful analysis of the experience of deep
engagement, this book shows that relativism is neither as
incoherent nor as alarming as we tend to think. In fact, it might
just offer the tools we need to face these times of global crisis
and change. Alyssa Luboff has produced an exceptional defense of a
cultural relativism that recognizes how the epistemic and the
ethical intertwine in a way of life. Drawing from her deep
engagement over many years with the Chachi and traditional
Afro-Ecuadorian people, she provides vivid and compelling examples
of how one can come to understand another way of life as
well-reasoned, coherent, and integrated, as challenging to one's
own commitments at the same time that one challenges it. Luboff
combines her deep engagement with command of the relevant
philosophical and anthropological literature. She presents the
major arguments against relativism in a sympathetic and generous
way, and carefully responds with a sophisticated relativism that
acknowledges how the world resists and responds to different
conceptual shapings of it. This book is beautifully written and
will engage both the academic specialist and the intelligent
general reader. - David Wong, Duke University By the time her
brilliant faceoff is over, philosophical relativism will never
again be seen as a straw man. - Richard A. Shweder, University of
Chicago This book will interest readers who seek an astute account
of how the pursuit of "truth" - whether relative or absolute -
enters into practices of power. Luboff 's treatment is impressive.
- Michael Krausz, Bryn Mawr College and Linacre College, Oxford
University
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