Relativism

I love this - UK radio programme from yesterday. Sweet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime.shtml

If at some point you get one hour to listen to it I would very much appreciate any thoughts you have - it's very enjoyable !

RELATIVISM

"Today, a particularly insidious obstacle to the task of educating is the massive presence in our society and culture of that relativism which, recognizing nothing as definitive, leaves as the ultimate criterion only the self with its desires. And under the semblance of freedom it becomes a prison for each one, for it separates people from one another, locking each person into his or her own "ego"."

Pope Benedict XVI, in a speech given last June, showed that the issue of relativism is as contentious today as it was in Ancient Greece, when Plato took on the relativist stance of Protagoras. Relativism is a school of philosophical thought which holds to the idea that there are no absolute truths. Instead, truth is situated within different frameworks of understanding that are governed by our history, culture and critical perspective. Why has relativism so radically divided scholars and moral custodians over the centuries? How have its supporters answered to criticisms that it is inherently unethical? And if there are universal standards such as human rights, how do relativists defend culturally specific practices such as honour killings or female infanticide?

PS. Interesting that the Pope referred to "the ego". I didn't see the ego mentioned in The Bible and thought it was invented by a psychoanalyst. Amazing how a such a theory, one that would seem to be inherently linked with one's soul (which is why the Pope's reference strikes me) - has crept into mainstream religious minds - de jure acceptance.