Relativism and post-truth in contemporary society : possibilities and challenges
Mikael Stenmark (Editor),Steve Fuller (Editor),Ulf Zackariasson (Editor)
This book approaches post-truth and relativism in a multidisciplinary fashion. Researchers from astrophysics, philosophy, psychology, media studies, religious studies, anthropology, social epistemology and sociology discuss and analyse the impact of relativism and post-truth both within the academy and in society at large. The motivation for this multidisciplinary approach is that relativism and post-truth are multifaceted phenomena with complex histories that have played out differently in different areas of society and different academic disciplines. There is hence a multitude of ways in which to use and understand the concepts and the phenomena to which they refer, and a multitude of critiques and defenses as well. No single volume can capture the ongoing discussions in different areas in all their complexity, but the different chapters of the book can function as exemplifications of the ramifications these phenomena have had
1 online resource
9783319965598, 9783319965581, 331996559X, 3319965581
1052796925
Intro; Preface; Contents; Notes on Contributors; Chapter 1: Introduction: Engaging Relativism and Post-Truth; Relativity, Relativization and Post-Truth; A (Very) Brief History of Relativization; Typologies of Relativism; Navigating aPost-Truth Condition: Overview oftheChapters; References; Part I: The Promise of Relativism; Chapter 2: Relativism Versus Absolutism: TheSense of Relativism That Leibniz and Hegel Grasped but Plato Didn't; Introduction: What Is the Opposite of Relativism-Universalism or Absolutism?; Why Plato WasNo Absolutist; Saint Augustine Turns Plato toAbsolutism Conclusion: TheEthics of Absolutism-Living Forever asaMeans WithoutEnds?References; Chapter 3: Postmodern Relativism asEnlightened Pluralism; Introduction; Postmodern Pluralism asCritique; Postmodern Relativism inMoral Terms; Pluralism inPractice; References; Part II: Post-Truth as Social Condition and Truth-Game; Chapter 4: Post-Truth, Social Media, andthe"Real" asPhantasm; References; Chapter 5: A Theory of Evolution of Religious Knowledge inaPost-Revolutionary Iran: AndaNew Frontier forSociology of Knowledge; Introduction; The Historical Background Historicity of Religious Knowledge: Problematic yet UnavoidableA Crypto-Secular Theory or aPost-Truth Game?; Conclusion: Post-Truth asaSociological Concept; References; Part III: Relativism and the Academy; Chapter 6: On Extrapolation inTrans-Cultural Dialogues: TheExample oftheUse of Einstein's Theories of Relativity intheDiscourse of Relativism; Criticism of Relativity and Relativism; Derrida's "Einsteinian Constant"; An Example of"Forced Relativism"; References; Chapter 7: Mental Health Diagnosis: Is It Relative orUniversal inRelation toCulture? Operating Definitions, Terms, and Conceptual Starting Points forUnderstanding the Universal-Relative DebateUnderstanding the Positioning of Culture intheDSM Process; Understanding the Positioning of Culture intheDSM-IV; Introduction totheManual; Cultural Considerations for Specific Disorders; Cultural Annotations fortheMultiaxial Schema; Cultural Formulation Outline; Glossary of Culture-Bound Syndromes (CBS) and Idioms of Distress; Understanding the Positioning of Culture intheDSM-5; The Cultural Formulation Interview; References; Chapter 8: Critique of Human Rights Universalism Three Forms of Universalism and RelativismWhat Is Problematic AboutHuman Rights Universalism?; Human Rights asLegal, Moral, and Political Conventions: TheFourth Form of Relativism; Toward Critical Universalism; References; Part IV: The Threat of Relativism; Chapter 9: Scientism and Utopia: New Atheism asaFundamentalist Reaction toRelativism; Secular Fundamentalism; The Ideology of Scientific Atheism; New Atheism andtheScience Wars; Islam and Civilization; The Project of Utopia; References; Chapter 10: The Barbarian inRome andtheCultural Relativism Debate