[MD] Rorty's Relativism

[gav]

hi marsha,

Phædrus is fascinated too by the description of the motive of "duty toward self " which is an almost exact translation of the Sanskrit word dharma, sometimes described as the "one" of the Hindus. Can the dharma of the Hindus and the "virtue" of the ancient Greeks be identical?Then Phædrus feels a tugging to read the passage again, and he does so and then -- what's this?! -- "That which we translate `virtue ' but is in Greek `excellence."'Lightning hits!Quality! Virtue! Dharma! That is what the Sophists were teaching! NOT ETHICAL RELATIVISM. Not pristine "virtue." But areté. Excellence. Dharma! Before the Church of Reason. Before substance. Before form. Before mind and matter. Before dialectic itself. Quality had been absolute. Those first teachers of the Western world were teaching Quality, and the medium they had chosen was that of rhetoric. He has been doing it right all along."

that's where it is - the bit in capitals.

if quality is absolute it isn't relative


      __________________________________________________________________________________
Find local businesses and services in your area with Yahoo!7 Local.
Get started: http://local.yahoo.com.au