Description: Some philosophers regard relativism as neither true nor false but simply incoherent. Carol Rovane demonstrates that the way to defend relativism is not by establishing its truth but by clarifying its content. Some forms of interpersonal engagement are true in themselves but closed off to belief from those who hold irreducibly incompatible truths.
Brief description: Carol Rovane is Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University.
Review Quotes: In recent years, the issue of relativism has been hotly discussed by the philosophical community, and a number of good books have been dedicated to the issue. However, to my knowledge no thorough general and methodical analysis has been offered of what the content of this doctrine exactly is. Carol Rovane's The Metaphysics and Ethics of Relativism finally fills this relevant gap in the philosophical literature. This is a thoughtful, original, and very deep book. In the next decades it will very probably represent a milestone in the debate on relativism.--Mario De Caro, Università Roma Tre and Tufts University