| 释义 |
ˈrelativist, n. (and a.)
[f. as prec. + -ist.]
1. Philos. One who holds the doctrine of relativism.
1863Spencer Ess. III. 302, I diverge from other relativists in asserting that the existence of a non-relative is..a positive deliverance of consciousness. 1898Pop. Sci. Monthly LIII. 850 Agnostics, relativists, and all others must agree with him. 1935K. Koffka Princ. Gestalt Psychol. 347 The relativist's argument rejects in the first place the distinction between the picture as a geographical and a behavioral object. 1953M. Ginsberg Ess. Sociol. & Soc. Philos. I. vii. 124 Relativists generally stress the great diversity of morals. Yet the similarity is much greater. 1967Encycl. Philos. III. 75/1 Writers who call themselves relativists always accept the first and second and sometimes accept the third of the theses. 1976W. J. Stankiewicz Aspects Polit. Theory v. 97 If relativists are right in assuming that the analysis of values is complete when the latter are declared to be tastes, wishes or attitudes, it would seem impossible for moral statements to form any kind of pattern for either the individual or society.
2. A student or proponent of the theory of relativity.
1914[implied in sense 3 below]. 1919Nature 11 Dec. 374/2 The out-and-out relativist will not admit an absolute measure of acceleration any more than of velocity. 1922A. S. Eddington Theory of Relativity 16 The reason why the relativist resurrects this ancient truism is because it is only in this undissected combination of four dimensions that the experiences of all observers meet. 1968Amer. Jrnl. Physics XXXVI. 1109/1 His [sc. Einstein's] great passion for the physical explanation of the laws of nature resulted in his abandoning ether and absolute time, thus radically modifying long-established Newtonian space-time. Thus, he was the first true relativist. 1977Listener 24 Mar. 365/2 Newton's definitions of time and space..which were found to be implausible with the coming of the relativists at the end of the 19th century.
3. attrib. or as adj.
1914C. D. Broad Perception v. 286 It is no special objection to the relativist theory. 1921Nature 8 Dec. 467/1 The differential equations which the relativist mathematicians use. 1939V. A. Demant Relig. Prospect i. 12 Man has no criteria by which to guide himself in the movements of time. He resorts to beating back the forces that oppose what he conceives to be the most advanced phase. This attitude is completely relativist. 1949Scrutiny XVI. i. 26 It is commonly held that the essential point about totalitarian morality is the denial of a universal moral law binding on all mankind and its replacement by a relativist view of morals. 1962Listener 10 May 821/1 We are usually too timid, too relativist, to be so vehement in our defence of righteousness today. |