No Absolutes ?

You heard it on Nine to Noon




Dear Anita

I listened to some discussion on your radio programme today by a social commentator and caught a line about ethical / moral absolutes not existing.

I have read philosophy most of my life, starting at the age of 13 and I'm now middle aged. I have to say I was somewhat provoked by the commentator. I don't think such statements should go unchallenged. As far back as Plato it was argued that absolutes must exist otherwise particulars are meaningless. Plato and his school argued that without absolutes we cannot move. It can be argued he was right in every sense and it is equally the case with the theory of knowledge ( Epistemology is the philosophical term).
Your commentator said he had some exposure to existentialism as if this was the end of the argument. Not so as Sartre (see picture) is quoted as saying that. "Any finite point without an infinite reference point is meaningless and absurd". If there are no absolutes it cannot be said in a meaningful way that they do not exist, as every thesis has an anti-thesis in logic.

Cheers
Bryan Pepperell