Pluralism is the name of entirely unrelated positions in metaphysics and epistemology. In metaphysics, pluralism claims a plurality of basic substances making up the world; in epistemology, pluralism claims that there are several conflicting but still true descriptions of the world. Plato and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ... It has been suggested that Meta-epistemology be merged into this article or section. ... Look up substance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Pluralism (Metaphysics)

The concept of pluralism in philosophy indicates the belief that reality consists of many different substances.^[1] It sits in contrast with the concepts of monism and dualism in metaphysics. The philosopher Socrates about to take poison hemlock as ordered by the court. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... René Descartes illustration of dualism. ... Plato and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ...

Pluralism (Epistemology)

Pluralism in epistemology is that there is not one consistent set of truths about the world, but rather many. Often this is associated with pragmatism, cultural relativism, and conceptual relativism. In the case of conceptual relativism, the argument claims that since there is no right way to carve up the world into concepts (e.g. what counts as an element), there will be several mutually exclusive complete and true descriptions of the world. In the case of cultural relativism, the argument claims that since truth is relative to culture, there will be several mutually exclusive complete and true descriptions of the world. Pragmatism is a school of epistemology that originated with Charles Sanders Peirce (who first stated the pragmatic maxim) and came to fruition in the early twentieth-century philosophies of William James and John Dewey. ... Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual humans beliefs and activities should be interpreted in terms of his or her own culture. ...

Hylic pluralism

Johannes Jacobus Poortman made a classification of a number of different metaphysical views on of the world and formulated the concept he referred to as "hylic pluralism" to describe the plurality of matter and so bring metaphysics in harmony with scientific understandings of the world. The concept is related to Poortman's theosophical beliefs - bringing religious and philosophical understandings together. Johannes Jacobus Poortman (Rotterdam April 26, 1896 – The Hague December 21, 1970), studied philosophy and psychology at Groningen University under Professor Gerardus Heymans. ... Plato and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ... Emblem of the Theosophical Society (Adyar) described at [1] Theosophy, literally wisdom of the divine (in the Greek language), designates several bodies of ideas. ...

See also

• Pantheism
• Value-pluralism
• Pluralism in political philosophy
• Pluralism in political theory
• Nelson Goodman
• Legal pluralism
• Economic pluralism
• Postmodernism - which often includes epistemological pluralism

Pantheism (Greek: pan = all and Theos = God) literally means God is All and All is God. It is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing immanent God; or that the universe, or nature, and God are equivalent. ... Value-pluralism is the idea that two or more moral values may be equally ultimate (true), yet in conflict. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Pluralism (political philosophy) This article is about pluralism in politics. ... The political theory of pluralism holds that political power in society does not lie with the electorate but is distributed between a wide number of groups. ... Nelson Goodman (7 August 1906, Somerville, Maryland – 25 November 1998) was an American philosopher, known for his work on counterfactuals, mereology, the problem of induction, and aesthetics. ... Legal pluralism allows for moral laws that are unwritten as formal laws. ... Economic pluralism refers to the diversity of business sizes, types, and industries. ... Postmodernist architecture of the Stata Center by Frank Gehry Sydney Opera House The term Postmodernism (sometimes referred to as Pomo, Po-Mo, or PoMo [1], [2], [3]) was coined in the early 1960s to describe a dissatisfaction with modern architecture, founding the postmodern architecture. ... It has been suggested that Meta-epistemology be merged into this article or section. ...

Notes

1. ^ A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names

References

• Philosophyweb.com, A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names. Accessed 13 February 2007.