relativisms

Noun

relativism (countable and uncountable, plural relativisms)

1. (uncountable) 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.
   • We thus reach a position of extreme relativism: different 'truths' may be useful in different historical situations, and it is quite possible that any truth is valid only for a particular epoch or social class.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in...
2. (countable) A specific such theory, advocated by a particular philosopher or school of thought.
   • 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.2008, Paul Boghossian, “Replies to Wright, MacFarlane and Sosa”, in Philosophical Studies, volume 141, number 3, page 413