Relativism

Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful. ~ George E. P. Box

One of the worst muddles of this age is its confusing of the ideas behind combative and cognitive activity. Cognition is not fighting, but once someone knows a lot, he will have much to fight for, so much that he will be called a relativist because of it. ~ Karel Čapek

Quotes about Relativism

Quotes

Alphabetized by author

• Ethical relativism reminds us that different societies have different moral beliefs and that our beliefs are deeply influenced by culture. It also encourages us to explore the reasons underlying beliefs that differ from our own, while challenging us to examine our reasons for the beliefs and values we hold.
  • Claire Andre and Manuel Velasquez, in "Ethical Relativism" at Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University

• Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church is often labeled today as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along by every wind of teaching, look like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards. We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires.
  • Pope Benedict XVI, Homily at the Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff (18 April 2005); as published in The Essential Pope Benedict XVI: His Central Writings and Speeches (2008) edited by John F. Thornton and Susan B. Varenne, p. 22

• To confuse our own constructions and inventions with eternal laws or divine decrees is one of the most fatal delusions of men.
  • Isaiah Berlin, in Essays in Honour of E. H. Carr (1974) edited by Chimen Abramsky, p. 9

• Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful.
  • George E. P. Box, in Empirical Model-Building and Response Surfaces (1987), co-authored with Norman R. Draper, p. 424 ISBN 0471810339

• Relativism is not indifference; on the contrary, passionate indifference is necessary in order for you not to hear the voices that oppose your absolute decrees. . . Relativism is neither a method of fighting, nor a method of creating, for both of these are uncompromising and at times even ruthless; rather, it is a method of cognition. If one must fight or create, it is necessary that this be preceded by the broadest possible knowledge ... One of the worst muddles of this age is its confusing of the ideas behind combative and cognitive activity. Cognition is not fighting, but once someone knows a lot, he will have much to fight for, so much that he will be called a relativist because of it.
  • Karel Čapek, in "On Relativism" (1925)