Transcript Common Fallacies about Relativism and its Relatives.

Common Fallacies about
Relativism and its Relatives
“Not many people are consistent either in maintaining relativism or
in rejecting it. What we find in their thinking is not pure relativism,
but partial relativism. In some cases, as in the postmodernist
version of relativism, the relativism cannot be pure because of its
sheer incoherency” ~ J. Budziszewski
“Practical Responses to Relativism and Postmodernism: Part I,” in
Philosophy: Christian Perspectives for the New Millennium, 90.
Definition of Postmodernism:
• “As a cultural mood, postmodernism is simply the habit of
thinking that nothing holds together, that everything is in
pieces” (ibid., 95).
– Truth is fragmented. Instead of believing in a truth that is for
everyone, one believes in stories or narratives which are different from
everyone.
– Personality is fragmented. Instead of believing that each of us
possess a soul, a self, and an I (identity) who is responsible for choices
we make, we exchange our identity for “role playing.” In this context
we are… and in this context we are…
– Life itself is fragmented (There is no ultimate purpose).
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Description of Postmodernism:
“Postmodernism is much more difficult to defeat as a
mood than as a proposition. It is easy to show that
postmodernism is incoherent, but the postmodernist
may strike a pose of not caring whether he is
incoherent. But it is a pose; so don’t be taken in.
When someone tells me that he can do without
meaning and coherency, I respond, “You know as
well as I do that the longing for meaning and
coherency is deep-set in every mind, yours as well as
mine. So my question for you is this: What is that
you want so badly that you are willing to give up
even meaning and coherency to have it? [Ibid., 96].”
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List of Fallacies about Relativism:
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Seat-at-the-table fallacy;
Socialization fallacy;
Erosion fallacy;
Many-morality fallacy;
Toleration fallacy;
Bad-behavior fallacy;
Biblicist Fallacy.
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The Seat-at-the table Fallacy:
• “The seat-at-the table fallacy holds that
relativism is an error, but on okay error. It’s
really good for us, the fallacy runs, because if
everyone gets a seat at the table, then
Christians get to sit down too. The assumption
is naïve, because in reality, only those who do
not rock the relativistic boat are allowed a seat
at the table. The only Christians who are
allowed to sit down are the Christians who
deny their faith” (Ibid., 99).
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The Socialization Fallacy:
• The socialization fallacy maintains that conscience is merely
the residue of the way were brought up. As Christians we
must disagree. To be sure, the outer edges of conscience can
be modified by the way we are brought up, but the core is
standard equipment. If this were not so, then why do you
suppose that how children are brought up varies as little as it
does? Do you know of any culture in which children are
taught not to share, not to play fair, not to be honest? Can you
think of one where they are taught to be cowards, and
condemned for being brave? It isn’t because we are taught the
same rules that we know them; rather, it is because we all
know the same rules that we teach them” (Ibid., 99).
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The Erosion Fallacy:
• “The erosion fallacy is that conscience is not built
into us; it can erode and disappear. Many Christians
accept this fallacy. They believe that the reason for
the prevalence of relativism and other forms of moral
skepticism is that the relativists and other moral
skeptics have lost their conscience. If St. Paul is right
about the law written on the heart, this diagnosis must
be erroneous. The problem is not that people don’t
know the moral law, but that they tell themselves they
don’t. They have much better knowledge than they
admit to themselves that they have. They wish to see
things less clearly than they really do, usually so that
they can do as they please” (Ibid., 100).
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The Many-Moralities Fallacy:
• The many-moralities fallacy asserts that moral
beliefs are completely different in every culture.
No, cultures differ about the details of morality,
but not about the basics.”
– Ex. Though a man may have one wife or four, you
don’t find a culture that does not recognize the
institution of marriage.
“There is a difference between taking a rule very
seriously and not knowing it at all” (Ibid., 100).
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The Toleration Fallacy:
“The toleration fallacy holds that tolerating people
means suspending moral judgment.”
Problem: “Tolerance cannot be practiced by
suspending moral judgment. You must exercise
moral judgment to recognize that tolerance is a
virtue in the first place. You must make further
moral judgments in order to know what should be
tolerated and what should not” (Ibid., 100).
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The Bad-Behavior Fallacy:
“ This fallacy holds that if people violate the
moral law, they must not know the moral
law. On the contrary, the moral law is not
unknown but merely inconvenient. We
know what is right; we just don’t do it.
Many people express the bad-behavior
fallacy, but few people will defend it when
challenged” (Ibid., 100).
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The Biblicist Fallacy:
This fallacy is the notion that the knowledge of
right and wrong comes only from the Bible. The
issue is not reliance and dependence upon the
truth and authority of the Bible. Rather, it is
saying that any aspect of God’s truth is known
exclusively in the Bible; There is no other source
of moral knowledge. However, because of
natural theology everyone has certain knowledge
about God, truth, and morality. Consider the
following:
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The Biblicist Fallacy:
Everyone gains knowledge about God, truth, and morality from
these sources and this knowledge harmonizes with biblical teaching.
Thus, both sources compliment each other with the Bible being the
ultimate, final, and absolute source since it is special revelation.
Knowledge from Creation: Psalm 19:1-6 & Rom. 1.
Knowledge from Conscience: Rom. 2:14-15.
Knowledge from Human Design: Romans 1:26-27.
Knowledge from God-ward Longing: Ecclesiastes 3:11; Acts 17:22-34.
Knowledge from natural consequences of our actions: Galatians 6:7
Consider reading C. S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man.
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In Conclusion:
“If you live apart from the Redeemer, then
truth really will seem fragmented because you
won’t be able to make sense of things. If you
live apart from the Redeemer, then personality
really will seem fragmented because you won’t
know who you really are. And if you live
apart from the Redeemer, then life will seem
fragmented because you will be unable to
grasp its meaning and may simply give up
trying” (Ibid., 95).
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Bibliography:
• This work is adapted from J. Budziszewski’s,
“Practical Responses to Relativism and
Postmodernism: Part I” in Philosophy: Christian
Perspectives for the New Millennium, v. 1 (Addison,
Tx.: CLM & RZIM Publishers: 2003), 107-122.
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