On relativism

If relativism, then, is often just a distraction, is it a valuable one or a dangerous one? I
think it all depends. Sometimes we need reminding of alternative ways of thinking, alternative
practices and ways of life, from which we can learn and which we have no reason to condemn.
We need to appreciate our differences. Hence, in academic circles, relativism has often been
associated with the expansion of literature and history to include alternatives that went unnoticed
in previous times. That is excellent. But sometimes we need reminding that there is time to
draw a line and take a stand, and that alternative ways of looking at things can be corrupt,
ignorant, superstitious, wishful, out of touch or plain evil. It is a moral issue, whether we tolerate
and learn or regret and oppose. Rosie the relativist may do well to highlight that decision, but
she does not do well to suggest that it always falls out the one way.

We can put the matter in terms of our hidden dark forces. It might undermine either me
or Genghis to remind us that we are the products of dark forces in our genetic and cultural
environments. It might undermine us to the point that we give up the debate. But there is no
reason for it to do so. For even if we accept that this is what we are, there is no reason yet to
suppose that my dark forces are worse than Genghis’s dark forces. No doubt by luck and by
forgotten or unknown pressures in my background, I have got to be like I am, and the same for
Genghis. But then the question is: should we be proud or ashamed of how we have turned out?
If for a moment we took our eye off the original issue, and started instead to discuss whether the
dark forces that lead Genghis to approve of hunting are more or less worthy or admirable than
the dark forces that lead me to disapprove of it – well, we are no further forward. To decide
which dark forces were the ones to be proud of is pretty much the same as deciding whether
foxhunting should be banned, and back we go to the original problem. Once more, the relativist
intervention was just a distraction, and the issue remains the issue.

– From Truth: A Guide
by Simon Blackburn. The Globe and Mail called Truth “a state-of-the-art refutation of relativism and a fastidious defence of Western rationalism…
if you’re not so much perplexed as annoyed, even incensed, at the relativism and ironic nihilism of the youth (or their free-thinking professors),
and you’re looking for a vicarious voice to denounce the abject postmodern menace and stand up for Western rationalism, this could be the book for you.”