Debate: After Relativism - The Institute of Art and Ideas

From the Institute of Art and Ideas (iai), this is a cool conversation (debate) about the meaning of the world after relativism.

Topics:

• Relativism is a patronising and unhelpful mistake
• The lessons of relativism can improve scientific practice
• The theory of closure offers a powerful means of overcoming the problems of relativism
• Is relativism an error?
• Is truth an illusion?
• After relativism

After Relativism

Participants

Michela Massimi, Simon Blackburn. Hilary Lawson, Shahidha Bari (host)

"Everything is relative" has become the mantra of our age - in ethics, in art and in science. But does this in fact mean we are lost? Should we retreat to the safe havens of absolute truth, or is there an alternative adventure beyond postmodernity? 

The Panel

Author of Truth: A Guide, Simon Blackburn, non-realist philosopher and Closure theorist (Closure: A Story of Everything) Hilary Lawson, and philosopher of science Michela Massimi, author of Pauli's Exclusion Principle: The Origin and Validation of a Scientific Principle, explore ways forward from postmodernity.