Rothbard Vs The Philosophers by Roberta A. Modugno

Author:Roberta A. Modugno [Modugno, Roberta A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute

9.

THE SYMPOSIUM ON RELATIVISM: A CRITIQUE

Prefatory Note

Before embarking on a critique of the various papers on relativism, I think it important to delineate briefly what relativism is and what the issues are on this important topic. Let us first consider the polar opposite of relativism: absolutism. The absolutist believes that man’s mind, employing reason (which according to some absolutists is divinely inspired, according to others is given by nature), is capable of discovering and knowing truth: including the truth about reality, and the truth about what is best for man and best for himself as an individual.

The relativist denies this, denies that man’s reason is capable of knowing truth, and does so by claiming that rather than being absolute, truth is relative to something else. This something else may be different things, and so there can be many kinds of relativist; some of these things have been the subject of psychology of each individual, the economic interests of the individual (or of the “class” to which he belongs), the “Spirit of the Age” in which the person happens to live, the social structure of the society in which he lives, his “culture,” his race, etc. Philosophically, I believe that libertarianism—and the wider creed of sound individualism of which libertarianism is a part—must rest on absolutism and deny relativism.

With these distinctions and definitions in mind, let us turn to the individual essays of the symposium.53

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