The Book of Absolutes
A Critique of Relativism and a Defence of Universals
1st Edition
Published on 21. August 2008
416 pages
978-0-7735-7469-4 (ISBN)
Description
Current dogma holds that all cultures and moral values are conditional, nothing human is innate, and Einstein proved that the whole universe is "relative." Challenging this position, William Gairdner argues that relativism is not only logically and morally self-defeating but that progress in scientific and intellectual disciplines has actually strengthened the case for absolutes, universals, and constants of nature and human nature.
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09/2009
McGill-Queen's University Press
€33.00
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08/2008
McGill-Queen's University Press
€52.18
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Person
Gairdner William D.:
William D. Gairdner is a best-selling author, businessman, and independent scholar. His most recent books are Canada's Founding Debates and The Trouble with Democracy.William D. Gairdner is a best-selling author, businessman, and independent scholar. His most recent books are Canada's Founding Debates and The Trouble with Democracy.
William D. Gairdner is a best-selling author, businessman, and independent scholar. His most recent books are Canada's Founding Debates and The Trouble with Democracy.William D. Gairdner is a best-selling author, businessman, and independent scholar. His most recent books are Canada's Founding Debates and The Trouble with Democracy.
Content
- Intro
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 A Brief History of Relativism
- 2 The Main Types of Relativism
- 3 Objections to Relativism
- 4 The Universals of Human Life and Culture
- 5 The Constants of Nature
- 6 The War over Biology: Setting the Stage
- 7 Hardwired: The Universals of Human Biology, Sex, and Brain Sex
- 8 Universals of Law: The Natural Law and the Moral Law
- 9 The Natural Law and the Moral Law at Work in the World
- 10 How Language Theory Changed the (Post) Modern World
- 11 German Philosophy and the Relativist Revolt against Western Civilization
- 12 The Sacred Text: The French Nietzsche and the French Heidegger
- 13 Po-Mo and the Return to Absolutes
- 14 The Universals of Language
- 15 A Postscript, with a Word about the Universals of Literature, Myth, and Symbol
- Appendix: Some Universals and Constants of Nature and Human Nature
- Notes
- Index
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- Z
