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Single Idea 576
[filed under theme 13. Knowledge Criteria / E. Relativism / 6. Relativism Critique
]
Full Idea
When two men taste the same thing one will often find it sweet and the other bitter. Suppose all men were sick, except one or two who were healthy. It would then be the latter two who would be considered sick, and the others not!
Gist of Idea
If the majority had diseased taste, and only a few were healthy, relativists would have to prefer the former
Source
Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], 1009b05)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Metaphysics', ed/tr. Lawson-Tancred,Hugh [Penguin 1998], p.99
The
19 ideas
with the same theme
[criticism of the idea that there are only points of view]:
606
|
Protagoras absurdly thought that the knowing or perceiving man is 'the measure of all things'
[Aristotle on Protagoras]
|
247
|
God is "the measure of all things", more than any man
[Plato on Protagoras]
|
612
|
Relativists think if you poke your eye and see double, there must be two things
[Aristotle on Protagoras]
|
335
|
Do the gods also hold different opinions about what is right and honourable?
[Plato]
|
2053
|
If you claim that all beliefs are true, that includes beliefs opposed to your own
[Plato]
|
2054
|
Clearly some people are superior to others when it comes to medicine
[Plato]
|
2059
|
How can a relativist form opinions about what will happen in the future?
[Plato]
|
20921
|
How can we state relativism of sweet and sour, if they have no determinate nature?
[Theophrastus]
|
576
|
If the majority had diseased taste, and only a few were healthy, relativists would have to prefer the former
[Aristotle]
|
7620
|
Some kind of objective 'rightness' is a presupposition of thought itself
[Putnam]
|
6398
|
Different points of view make sense, but they must be plotted on a common background
[Davidson]
|
4244
|
It is very confused to deduce a nonrelativist morality of universal toleration from relativism
[Williams,B]
|
4243
|
Our ability to react to an alien culture shows that ethical thought extends beyond cultural boundaries
[Williams,B]
|
1550
|
Why didn't Protagoras begin by saying "a tadpole is the measure of all things"?
[Plato on Kim]
|
2065
|
Not every person is the measure of all things, but only wise people
[Plato on Kim]
|
3857
|
Defeat relativism by emphasising truth and reference, not meaning
[Newton-Smith]
|
1577
|
Relativism is a disease which destroys the possibility of rational debate
[Roochnik]
|
3878
|
Why should you believe someone who says there are no truths?
[Scruton]
|
7066
|
If the world is just texts or social constructs, what are texts and social constructs?
[Heil]
|