La Politique de la Divergence: Quelques Remarques sur le Relativisme

RIOS, DIEGO

ANNEE SOCIOLOGIQUE

Presses Universitaires de France (PUF)

Lugar: París; Año: 2006 vol. 56 p. 119 - 136

0066-2399

The aim of this text is to analyze the issue of relativism. The author argues that the relativist position could be interpreted in two ways. According to the first interpretation, relativism denies the possibility of objectivity. According to the second interpretation, relativism is a theoretical thesis that denies the existence of anthropological universals. This texts focusses only on the first version of the relativistic position. From an epistemological point of view, the author identifies two arguments that have been proposed to justify relativism, and he shows that both of them are controversial. He concludes that the relativistic thesis is incapable to account for the behavior of scientists, who, contrary to the relativism’s predictions, are keen to evaluate the truth of their theories against data and against rival theories.