From semantic relativism to reality relativism

Abstract

This thesis is a defense of the view that reality is relative. First I start with semantic relativism, then, I show that semantic relativism implies reality relativism. To argue for semantic relativism, motivated by arguments by W.V. O. Quine and L. Wittgenstein, I use two examples about personal identity. The first one is about abortion and the second one is about brain transplantation cases. Next, I show that if meaning is relative then whatever we call reality is also relative since our access to reality is through language. After my arguments, I consider two objections. The first one is David Lewis’ objection. Lewis claims that due to the natural structure of the world words tend to refer to some objects (or set of objects) as opposed to others. Hence, he argues against the semantic relativity thesis. The second objection is that relativism is self-refuting because it relativizes itself. I reply to both objections.