GAIRDNER, William D., The Book of Absolutes. A Critique of Relativism anda Defence of Universals, Montréal / Kingston, McGill-Queens UniversityPress, 2008, 416 p.
ISBN 077353413X
RÉSUMÉ
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 thatrelativism is not only logically and morally self-defeating but thatprogress in scientific and intellectual disciplines has actuallystrengthened the case for absolutes, universals, and constants ofnature and human nature.
Gairdner refutes the popular belief in cultural relativism by showingthat there are hundreds of well-established cross-cultural "humanuniversals." He then discusses the many universals found in physics -as well as Einstein's personal regret at how his work wasmisinterpreted by the public's eagerness to promote relativism.Gairdner also gives a lively account of the many universals of humanbiology, including the controversial topic of universal genderdifferences or "brain sex." He then looks at universal concepts of bothnatural and international law, and ends by discussing language theory.He shows how philosophers from Nietzsche to Derrida have misusedlinguistic concepts to justify their relativism, even though asustained and successful effort by serious scientists and philosophersof language has revealed myriad universals of human language, rangingfrom language acquisition, to word-order, to "Universal Grammar."
From ethics to Einstein, culture to biology, law to language, The Bookof Absolutes makes complex topics accessible to a broad audience anddemonstrates that there are plenty of certainties, even in ourpostmodern world.
TABLE DES MATIÈRES
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1 A Brief History of Relativism 3
2 The Main Types of Relativism 22
3 Objections to Relativism 31
4 The Universals of Human Life and Culture 44
5 The Constants of Nature 69
6 The War over Biology: Setting the Stage 105
7 Hardwired: The Universals of Human Biology, Sex, and Brain Sex 120
8 Universals of Law: The Natural Law and the Moral Law 163
9 The Natural Law and the Moral Law at Work in the World 194
10 How Language Theory Changed the (Post) Modern World 217
11 German Philosophy and the Relativist Revolt against Western Civilization 236
12 The Sacred Text: The French Nietzsche and the French Heidegger 249
13 Po-Mo and the Return to Absolutes 266
14 The Universals of Language 278
15 A Postscript, with a Word about the Universals of Literature, Myth, and Symbol 300
Appendix: Some Universals and Constants of Nature and Human Nature 309
Notes 335
Index 381
BIOGRAPHIE
William Gairdner is a best-selling author, businessman, and independentscholar . His most recent books are Canada's Founding Debates and TheTrouble with Democracy.