Forum: The American Connection

Relativism

From Snobsoft@VERT/PARTYBOW to All on Saturday, March 28, 2026 04:02:53

First of all, please excuse my newbie questions.
Some time ago (about half a year or even longer) I had a great discussion here in the “General” (I think) section with a user (unfortunately I forgot the name) about the tendency to relativize everything. Back then he ended by telling me I should think about my own position. Which I have now done (for quite a long time).
Unfortunately, I can’t find the posts anymore. I assume they eventually get overwritten by new content here (just like I remember from my 300‑baud BBS days)?

Anyway. Here is my reply to the unknown user who will hopefully still recognize the topic.

So, relativizing everything is indeed a problem, because then you can no longer agree on any shared reality. Here in Germany this is currently a political issue, especially on the (pseudo) left. I believe the term for this is also “relativism”. I’m not sure if the term exists in English in the same way.
Relativism avoids any discussion based on a shared reality that people could agree on. “Yes, but XY perceives it differently again.” I hope it’s clear what I mean.

I now recognize this as a real problem - something I wasn’t fully aware of about half a year ago when we had that discussion.

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