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Relativism, Objectivism, and Theology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2014

Thomas B. Ommen*
Affiliation:
Villanova University

Abstract

Relativism is a central issue in anthropology, philosophy of science, and a number of other disciplines. It is usually contrasted with objectivism or foundationalism, the quest for universal and absolute norms. Richard Bernstein has recently written an illuminating overview of the relativist-objectivist tension and has sketched out a notion of rationality “beyond objectivism and relativism.” This paper is an effort to follow Bernstein's lead and consider the theological implications of objectivism and relativism and the attempt to move beyond them. The first two parts of the paper take up objectivism and relativism in their philosophical and theological forms. The third section briefly explores some aspects of a non-relativist and non-objectivist model of rationality.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The College Theology Society 1986

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References

1 For the discussion of relativism see, especially, the essays in Hollis, Martin and Lukes, Steven, eds., Rationality and Relativism (Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press, 1984)Google Scholar and in Meiland, Jack W. and Krausz, Michael, eds., Relativism: Cognitive and Moral (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1982).Google Scholar

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5 See the essays by Sosa in note 4.

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10 For Rorty's critique of theology see, e.g., Consequences of Pragmatism, passim. For a more extended critique see Stout, The Flight from Authority.

11 Rorty, , Consequences of Pragmatism, p. xiv.Google Scholar

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14 Ibid., p. 146.

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36 Ibid.

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38 Ibid., pp. 82ff.

39 See note 27.

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51 Tracy, David, The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism (New York: Crossroad, 1981).Google Scholar

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53 Fiorenza, Schüssler, Foundational Theology, pp. 302ff.Google Scholar

54 Ibid., p. 302.

55 Ibid., pp. 304-11.

56 Tracy relies on both in his construction of a fundamental theology in Blessed Rage for Order (New York: Seabury, 1975).Google Scholar

57 Schillebeeckx, Edward, Jesus: An Experiment in Christology (New York: Crossroad, 1981), p. 614.Google Scholar

58 Ibid.