This article examines some of the scientific, cultural, and social
ramifications of our cultural courtship with the concepts of relativism and pluralism. Western social science, with U.S. hegemony, has
come full circle from early absolutist tendencies to a more widely
accepting posture. The orientation is of whole cloth with current
U.S. culture in many realms where a sometimes virulent form of
relativism pervades many of our social and moral judgments and
actions. Although the orientation may be transitory, many of its
features can inform us in valuable ways on a variety of our endeavors.
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