Relativism, most philosophers seem to agree, is an elusive and frustrating doctrine, difficult to define and, despite the efforts of the best philosophical minds for over two thousand years, evidently impossible to eradicate. Perhaps, as with other elusive entities, like the Loch Ness Monster or extraterrestrials, attention would be more fruitfully turned on its alleged sightings. Where and when is it observed? By whom? With what discernible provocations and possible motives or interests? What is wanted, perhaps, are not more precise definitions, discriminating classifications, or rigorous logical analyses, but historical, sociological, and even political investigations—perhaps even, where specific texts are invoked, close readings and rhetorical analyses. The editors of this volume, all associated with a long-term project of relativism-inquiry pursued in the philosophy department at the University of Vienna, evidently sought to provide such an alternative approach. Consisting of thirteen articles by an international group of scholars and a set...
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