Relativism is sometimes identified (usually by its critics) as the thesis that all points of view are equally valid. In ethics, this amounts to saying that all moralities are equally good; in epistemology it implies that all beliefs, or belief systems, are equally true. Critics of relativism typically dismiss such views as incoherent. Perhaps because relativism is associated with such views, few philosophers are willing to describe themselves as relativists. How controversial, and how coherent, forms of relativism are will obviously vary according to what is being relativized to what, and in what manner. In contemporary philosophy, the most widely discussed forms of relativism are moral relativism, cognitive relativism, and aesthetic relativism.
Socrates was more interested in ethical matters than metaphysical questions about the nature of reality. Socrates was not an epistemic or moral relativist. He used rational questioning as a way of discovering the truth about ethical......
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