Relativism is an ancient position that manifests itself in different ways throughout history. For some, it even marks the dead-end where philosophy must come to a stop. Like the child who asks her parent ‘why?’ until they can only offer up an exasperated sigh, the philosopher is eventually driven to a type of mystical or resigned silence in the face of never-ending questions. 

Yet, far from being the last stop in philosophy’s journey, relativism has tended to be the place where it begins. Something that is evident in Plato’s savage critique of the sophists. For Plato, philosophy was needed precisely to combat danger of a thinking unmoored from truth and swayed by the untamed oceans of public opinion, power and prosperity.

In this seminar I’ll explore how relativism manifests itself today in various philosophies of ‘difference’ in which we claim that we can only speak our personal truth, or where we imagine ourselves to be like one of the blind men who famously touch an elephant and come to different conclusions as to what it is. 

From there, I’ll argue that these ideas are not only unwarranted and dangerous, but hide the fact that the truth is always expressing itself, even in our errors.

I'm going to be doing more of these pop-up seminars in the coming months, so be sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel if you'd like to catch them.