000			02145nam a22001937a 4500
005			20260314121155.0
008			260314b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780826486363 _qhbk
041			_aeng
082			_a149 _bMOS
100			_aMosteller, Timothy M
245			_aRelativism in Contemporary American Philosophy _c/Timothy M. Mosteller
260			_bContinuum International Publishing Group Ltd. _c2006.
300			_a200p,; _c20 cm.
504			_aindex
520			_aRelativism about knowledge or truth has always provoked the ire of philosophers. Ever since Protagoras declared in antiquity that 'man is the measure of all things', relativism has been repeatedly attacked. Recently, however, Alasdair MacIntyre has observed that 'relativism...is one of those doctrines that have by now been refuted a number of times too often'. Along with MacIntyre, Hilary Putnam and Richard Rorty have also argued that while relativism may be problematic, there are valuable insights in it that philosophers need to take notice of. This book sorts out exactly what those relativistic insights are, and where they are to be found within the works of these three leading late-twentieth-century philosophers. Timothy Mosteller begins with a review of the major traditional definitions of relativism and the classical arguments against it. He then examines twentieth-century accounts and defences of relativism and points out that each account faces problems similar to those of the traditional versions. The continues with substantial treatments of the views of macIntyre, Putnam and Rorty on relativism, with each thinker robustly engaging the opinions of the others.Mosteller concludes the book by developing an alternative approach to relativismabout knowledge, which recognizes that while there may be no single 'global' criterion for all knowledge claims, there can be 'local' standards for settling particular disputes in such a way as to avoid the traditional hazards of relativism. Timothy M. Mosteller (Ph.D University of Miami) teaches philosophy at the University of San Diego, California.
650			_aPhilosophy
942			_cREF
999			_c617725 _d617725