AA 2005 Supplementum 2

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11660/9664

Browse

Browsing AA 2005 Supplementum 2 by Subject "Relativity"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The aporetic interweaving of relativity and relativism in Derrida’s thinking
    (University of the Free State, 2005) Hurst, Andrea
    English: The connection between relativity and relativism both clarifies and is clarified by Derrida’s thinking. To show this, I shall first associate each term with compatible Derridean terms. “Economy”, “structure”, “problem” and “the possible”, related to relativity, match counterparts related to relativism, namely “aneconomy”, “freeplay”, “aporia” and “the impossible”. Next, the conjunction suspended between these constellations will be addressed by asking whether a Derridean account of this connection would be unambiguously antinomial, dialectical, or diacritical. These “logics” are worked through to show that Derrida’s thinking does not “fall from the sky” but remains in critical dialogue with the philosophical tradition. Derrida, however, uncovers the workings of another “logic” that acknowledges an inescapable paradox in the conjunction between relativity and relativism, to which one could assign the nickname “quasi-transcendental”.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The application of philosophical tools to the theme of relativity and relativism
    (University of the Free State, 2005) Visagie, Johann
    English: This article initially describes a specific conception of philosophical tools — models of coherence at various levels and in different contexts of philosophical analysis. The overall purpose is to apply some of these tools to the theme of relativity and relativism. The first tool tested in this way will be the key formulas of philosophical discourse, with special reference to Derrida and deconstruction. Then the perspectives offered on the theme by various other tools will be explored. The article concludes with some remarks on spirituality and relativity, as well as the possibility of a future relativity.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The contemporary context of relativity and relativism
    (University of the Free State, 2005) Olivier, Bert
    English: In this paper an analogy is drawn between certain features of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity and the model of signification encountered in the work of the post-structuralists Lacan and Derrida. This analogy pivots on an achievement that is common to Einstein’s theory and the (post-)structuralist model of the sign, namely the subversion of the conceit of having access to something “absolute” — an “absolute” spatiotemporal vantage point in the case of Einstein, and “absolute” (immediate, fully present) meaning in the case of Derrida and Lacan. To be able to demonstrate this, the functionings of the structuralist “sign” and its radicalised post-structuralist counterpart are contrasted with the traditional referential model of meaning, while Einstein’s Special Theory is scrutinised with a view to establishing a basis for comparison with post-structuralist semiotics.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Relativity and relativism: historical and systematic considerations
    (University of the Free State, 2005) Strauss, Danie
    English: A brief overview of the emergence of the relativistic challenge to the so-called “exact” natural sciences, such as mathematics and physics, is followed by an analysis of the crisis that Husserl experienced in questioning rationalism. Against the background of a systematic distinction between modal laws and type laws, the pervasive influence of modern nominalism is identified as the root cause of the problems of relativism as it opened the way to the so-called Copernican turn in epistemology. The crucial and constant conditions required in every assertion of relativity are highlighted, particularly with regard to the foundational role of logical discernment in respect of language use and the impossibility of affirming change and relativity outside or independent of a context of constancy, taking into account the philosophical implications of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. Against this background, the “(onto-)logic of relativism” is assessed and a brief characterisation is given of the fact that modern humanism has merely reified humanity’s accountable freedom to give shape to underlying (ontic) principles in various (historically changing) circumstances.