The Emergence of Relativism: German Thought from the Enlightenment to National Socialism [Hardcover]

Debates over relativism are as old as philosophy itself. Since the late nineteenth century, relativism has also been a controversial topic in many of the social and cultural sciences. And yet, relativism has not been a central topic of research in the history of philosophy or the history of the social sciences. This collection seeks to remedy this situation by studying the emergence of modern forms of relativism as they unfolded in the German lands during the long nineteenth century from the Enlightenment to National Socialism. It focuses on relativist and anti-relativist ideas and arguments in four contexts: history, science, epistemology, and politics.

The Emergence of Relativism will be of interest to those studying nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophy, German idealism, and history and philosophy of science, as well as those in related disciplines such as sociology and anthropology.

General Introduction  Part I: History Introduction Katherina Kinzel  1. Hieroglyphic Historicism: Herders and Rankes Theology of History Niels Wildschut  2. The History of Philosophy and the Puzzles of Life: Windelband and Dilthey on the Ahistorical Core of Philosophical Thinking Katherina Kinzel  3. Hermeneutic Responses to Relativism: Gadamer and the Historicist Tradition Kirstin Gjesdal  Part II: Science Introduction Martin Kusch  4. Perspectivalism in the Development of Scientific Observer-Relativity Lydia Patton  5. Physical or Philosophical? Mach and Einstein on Being a Relativist Richard Staley  6. Husserl on Relativism Dermot Moran  7. Open Systems and Anti-Relativism: Anti-Relatlã/