Study Guide Test #2

Define and explain the difference between objectivity and relativism, both the traditional and moderate forms of each. Define incommensurability.

Rescher Ch. 4 – Explain Rescher’s claim that we cannot escape our frame of reference and the consequences it has for the debate between objectivity and relativism.

Harding – According to Harding, why is it that starting all scientific research from the perspective of marginalized lives leads to a stronger type of objectivity?

MacIntyre – In MacIntyre’s discussion of the border situation, what aspects of a culture does he claim are untranslatable?

Nussbaum and Sen – According to Nussbaum and Sen, what aspects have been underemphasized in discussions of Indian culture, and how has this affected the debate about the effects of modern science and technology on Indian culture?

Sumner – How does Sumner’s “evolutionary” account of the folkways and mores lead to the claim that there are no universal standards of right and truth?

Rachels – What is the cultural differences argument and what is Rachel’s criticism of it? What are some of the negative consequences of cultural relativism? What is cultural universalism and how can it be used to respond to cultural relativism?

Kopelman – What are the reasons given to support genital mutilation, and how does Kopelman respond to them?

Is Relativism Self-Refuting? What is Protagoras’ relativistic claim, and how does Plato argue that relativism is self-refuting? Explain how some people try to defuse this argument by moderating relativism, and Heidegger’s claim that argument’s such as Plato’s backfire.

Heidegger – Explain the traditional concept of truth and Heidegger’s claim that there is a deeper concept of truth than this one. How does Heidegger argue that his definition of the essence of truth as freedom (letting beings be, engagement) is not relativistic, despite the fact that he thinks that there are no specific criteria for determining what is true.

Bernstein – What is the Cartesian anxiety and how is it relevant to the debate between objectivity and relativism? What is hermeneutics? What are the main views that Bernstein discusses in the debate about the nature of the humanities, natural and social sciences? What is the traditional understanding of rationality, and how do Aristotle’s concepts of phronesis, sophia, and techne both support this view and provide an alternative to it? What is Bernstein’s definition of incommensurability and how is it different from the definition that we have been using in class? According to Bernstein, how does it suggest an openness to what is alien that is neither objective nor relativistic?