{"product_id":"9783030433390","title":"Synthese Library","description":"\u003ch1\u003eSynthese Library\u003c\/h1\u003e \u003ch2\u003eLuboff, Alyssa\u003c\/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eThis book tackles the difficult task of defending relativism in the age of science. It succeeds where others have failed by combining the rigor of analytic philosophy with the first-hand insights of anthropological experience. Typically, an anthropologist’s work on relativism offers rich examples of cultural diversity, but lacks philosophical rigor, while a philosopher’s work on relativism offers rigorous argumentation, but lacks rich anthropological examples. Facing Relativism, written by a North American philosopher who lived in the Ecuadorian rainforest, does both.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eRelativism at a global scale is a view that our claims about the world, both theoretical and practical, are evaluable only relative to a context shaped by factors such as culture, history, language, and environment – or, “a way of life.” It can be at once intuitive and disturbing. While we might expect a way of life to exert some influence on our claims, relativism seems to move to the overly strong conclusion that all of our claims about what is true or good must merely be expressions of cultural bias. It easily opens itself to a host of charges, including paradox and self-contradiction.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eFacing Relativism\u003c\/i\u003e argues that such problems arise largely from a failure to situate the view within the context that has, throughout its long history, been its inspiration: the experience – whether through literature, the imagination, or direct anthropological contact – of deeply engaging with a very different way of life. By starting with a careful analysis of the experience of deep engagement, this book shows that relativism is neither as incoherent nor as alarming as we tend to think. In fact, it might just offer the tools we need to face these times of global crisis and change.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eAlyssa Luboff has produced an exceptional defense of a cultural relativism that recognizes how the epistemic and the ethical intertwine in a way of life. Drawing from her deep engagement over many years with the Chachi and traditional Afro-Ecuadorian people, she provides vivid and compelling examples of how one can come to understand another way of life as well-reasoned, coherent, and integrated, as challenging to one’s own commitments at the same time that one challenges it. Luboff combines her deep engagement with command of the relevant \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003ephilosophical and anthropological literature. She presents the major arguments against relativism in a sympathetic and generous way, and carefully responds with a sophisticated relativism that acknowledges how the world resists and responds to different conceptual shapings of it. This book is beautifully written and will engage both the academic specialist and the intelligent general reader. –\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003eDavid Wong, Duke University\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eBy the time her brilliant faceoff isover, philosophical relativism will never again be seen as a straw man. –\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003eRichard A. Shweder, University of Chicago\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eThis book will interest readers who seek an astute account of how the pursuit of “truth” – whether relative or absolute – enters into practices of power. Luboff ’s treatment is impressive. –\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003eMichael Krausz, Bryn Mawr College and Linacre College, Oxford University\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003ch3\u003eDetails\u003c\/h3\u003e \u003cp\u003ePublished by: Springer\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePublication Date: 2020-05-20\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFormat: Hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eISBN-13: 9783030433390\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDOI: 10.1007\/978-3-030-43341-3\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDimensions: 235cm x155cm\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePages: 171\u003c\/p\u003e ","brand":"Springer International Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45416697659532,"sku":"9783030433390","price":89.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/9783030433390.jpg?v=1775704240","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9783030433390","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}