Chapter 4, Section 2 Relativism

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Chapter 4, Section 2Relativism

• PHL 472
• Spring 2004

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Perspectivism Recap

• Knowledge of the world is a function of the
  linguistic and conceptual framework within which
  particular knowers and agents live and operate
• So far this is compatible with a single shared
  conceptual framework (as Kant thought)

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Relativity of Conceptual Schemes

• Many people believe, however, that conceptual
  schemes represent fundamental commitments which
  can be deeply different among different cultures,
  time periods, and communities

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Relativity of Conceptual Schemes

• For example, consider the feminist critique of
  science and logic
• Analytic, dispassionate, detached
• vs.
• Synthetic, empathetic, attached

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Two kinds of relativism

• Epistemological relativism the content, meaning,
  truth, rightness, and reasonableness of
  cognitive, ethical, or aesthetic beliefs, claims,
  experiences, or actions can only be determined
  from within a particular conceptual scheme

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Two kinds of relativism

• (2) Ontological relativism reality itself is
  determined by the particular conceptual scheme of
  those living within it

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2 Sources of ER

• (1) Conceptual and linguistic schemes cause
  different people to have different experiences of
  the world (and so different descriptions of world
  are required for different people)
• (2) Conceptual and linguistic schemes contain
  different epistemic principles

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How Schemes Influence Experience

• Whorf hypothesis

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How Schemes Influence Experience

• Whorf hypothesis
• what we sense is a function of the linguistic
  system within which we operate as cognitive
  beings

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How Schemes Influence Experience

• Some Simple Examples
• The peanut in the jar
• The ring

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How Schemes Influence Experience

• Other examples
• 1984 and Newspeak
• Eskimos and snow
• Hopis and the tense-less language

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Different Epistemic Principles

• An epistemic principle is a second-belief about
  which first-order beliefs are acceptable
• Only accept as true those beliefs for which there
  is plenty of empirical evidence
• Only accept as true those beliefs that are likely
  to promote your overall well-being

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Different Epistemic Principles

• ER claims two things about the variation of
  Epistemic Principles
• (1) Descriptive claim different people from
  different cultures and times hold radically
  different epistemic principles
• (2) Normative claim since there is no foundation
  for any epistemic principle, it is not possible
  to evaluate the epistemic principles of others

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Different Epistemic Principles

• Evidence for the descriptive claim
• Primitive people and the laws of logic

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Different Epistemic Principles

• A counter-example to the normative claim?
• The claim being made by relativists is that the
  laws of logic are in a sense arbitraryalthough
  we use them in all of our reasoning and assess
  all reasoning in terms of them, not all people
  do, nor must they.

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Different Epistemic Principles

• A counter-example to the normative claim?
• Consider how we use the word and.
• If I know that a sentence of the form P and Q is
  true, then I can conclude that Q is true

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Different Epistemic Principles

• A counter-example to the normative claim?
• Now consider how we use the word or.
• If I know that P is true then I can conclude that
  P or Q is true.

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Different Epistemic Principles

• A counter-example to the normative claim?
• If logic were really just arbitrary, then could I
  not invent a new logical word and assign to it
  any properties I want?
• Let me introduce a new logical word tonk

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Different Epistemic Principles

• The rules of tonk are as follows
• If you know that P is true, then you can conclude
  P tonk Q (just like the way we use or)
• If you know that P tonk Q is true then you can
  conclude that Q is true (just like and)
• But now you can use tonk to prove anything you
  want

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Different Epistemic Principles

• I tend to think that tonk shows us something
  about logic we do not invent it but rather
  discover it.
• Tonk is useless because a language that included
  it would claim that every possible sentence is
  true. A language that does this is not a
  language.

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Different Epistemic Principles

• A relativist may not be convinced
• the principles of judgment would themselves be
  internal to one scheme or another, and thus any
  such exercise would merely beg the question at
  issue (p. 79).

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Argument for Ontological Relativism (p. 79)

• Our only access to reality is our experience of
  it.
• So there is no basis to distinguish between our
  experience of reality and reality itself
• Since there is no distinction to be made between
  reality and our experience of it, it follows that
  reality is dependent on our experience of it
• Our experience of reality is conceptually
  scheme-dependent
• Therefore reality is conceptually scheme-dependent

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Motivations behind relativism

• Relativism has become a popular theory of late
  because it is supposed to allow us to respect
  diversity and avoid ethnocentrism (the belief
  that our culture is better and more rational than
  all others).
• It is seen as an aid to understanding and
  appreciating others

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Consequences of Relativism

• (1) The differences between people with different
  conceptual schemes is so great that their beliefs
  would be incommensurable
• Incommensurable means unable to be measured on a
  common scale (example what is more beautiful,
  that Opera or that painting?)

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Consequences of Relativism

• If the beliefs of two people are incommensurable,
  then there is no possibility of translating one
  belief into the terms of another.
• To do this, the beliefs must be about the same
  things and there must be a common concept to show
  how the beliefs can be translated

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Consequences of Relativism

• (2) There can be no rational scrutiny of a
  conceptual scheme from without that schemeany
  attempt to do this presupposes a framework
  independent standpoint, but there is none

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Consequences of Relativism

• (3) Truth is relative to frameworksif a society
  believes in witchcraft then witchcraft is
  efficacious for them, if they do not believe it
  is not efficacious for them

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Consequences of Relativism

• In short, if relativism is correct, then people
  literally live in different worlds and are using
  different conceptual schemes to describe these
  different worlds
• This is separatism we live in separate worlds
  and cannot make contact with each other