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sense, don't admit of degrees (absolute terms) and those that do (relative terms). According to his account, the term "flat", for example, is an absolute term because a surface is either perfectly (or absolutely) flat or isn't flat at all. The terms "bumpy" or "curved", on the other hand, are
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requires certainty and that, certainty being an absolute term, it follows that it can never be achieved in reality. It is a
Platonic ideal that we can get closer and closer to, but never truly reach. In Unger's own words, "every human being knows, at best, hardly anything to be so".
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but, by our taking it to be a finer, more revealing look of a surface which is, in fact, rife with smallish bumps and crevices. Further, we account for bumps and crevices by supposing that the stone is composed of much smaller things,
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flat. When we look at a rather smooth block of stone through a powerful microscope, the observed surface appears to be rife with irregularities. And this irregular appearance seems best explained, not by its being taken as an illusory
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by the term "absolutely". For example, it is quite natural to say "this surface is absolutely flat", but it would be very strange and barely even meaningful to say "this surface is absolutely bumpy".
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Once the distinction is made, it becomes apparent that the application of absolute terms to describe the real-world objects is doubtful. Absolute terms describe properties that are ideal in a
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and so on, which are in such a combination that, while a large and sturdy stone is the upshot, no stone with a flat surface is found to obtain.
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curvedness is quantified). A bumpy surface can always be made bumpier. A truly flat surface, however, can never be made flatter.
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relative terms because there is no such thing as "absolute bumpiness" or "absolute curvedness" (although in
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For example, while we say of many surfaces of physical things that they are flat, a rather reasonable
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of what we presumably observe makes it quite doubtful that these surfaces actually
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sense, but that are not present in any concrete, real-world object.
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Unger, Peter (April 1971). "A Defense of
Skepticism".
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The distinction sets up the foundation for the final
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and differentiates between terms that, in their most
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781:Certainty and knowledge
709:A Defense of Skepticism
541:Historical epistemology
859:-related article is a
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85:improve this article
912:This article about
789:of the paper: that
636:Epistemic cognition
556:Virtue epistemology
551:Social epistemology
536:Formal epistemology
275:Part of a series on
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730:terminology
705:Peter Unger
491:Rationality
466:Information
380:Rationalism
340:Fallibilism
320:Coherentism
961:Categories
857:philosophy
798:References
601:David Hume
461:Experience
390:Skepticism
385:Relativism
375:Pragmatism
365:Naturalism
360:Infinitism
335:Empiricism
202:newspapers
169:references
111:newspapers
36:improve it
791:knowledge
768:molecules
576:Aristotle
481:Knowledge
476:Induction
451:Certainty
395:Solipsism
330:Dogmatism
81:talk page
42:talk page
787:argument
773:—
746:Platonic
734:modified
700:relative
694:absolute
446:Credence
431:A priori
413:Concepts
296:Category
833:2184030
713:literal
616:more...
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486:Meaning
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313:Schools
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