relativism

CEFRC1

/rˈɛlətɪˌvɪzəm/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The belief that truth or values depend on viewpoint or situation.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A specific such theory, advocated by a particular philosopher or school of thought.

Examples

  • It's important to take cultural relativism into account before judging another culture.

  • Pornography fosters a culture of promiscuity and moral relativism.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. The theory, especially in ethics or aesthetics, that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them.

More examples

In context

  • What do you mean by cultural relativism?

  • Following Gilbert Harman’s lead, my own formulation of relativism about the normative domain was based on the classic examples of thoroughgoing relativisms drawn from physics.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In ethics, moral blank argues that right and wrong vary by society.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From relative + -ism.