The belief that truth, morality, or knowledge depends on a person’s culture, situation, or perspective, rather than being fixed for everyone.
From *relative* plus the noun-forming suffix *-ism*, which often indicates a belief system. It arose in modern philosophy to describe views where values and truths are seen as context-dependent.
Relativism says, in effect, that your moral ‘north’ might be someone else’s ‘east.’ It’s a reminder that even what feels absolutely obvious to us may look very different from another cultural or historical angle.
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