Epistemic relativism—the view that "truth" and "justification" are always relative to culture, context, or perspective—has become the viral poison of our era. Disciples of "my truth, your truth" insist no claim is objectively better than any other, that reality itself bends to opinion or tribe. Make no mistake: this position is not just philosophically bankrupt; it is a direct threat to science, democracy, and the very possibility of justice.
① Self-Contradiction: Relativism claims "all truth is relative"—while demanding you accept THAT as absolute truth. It refutes itself the instant it's spoken: if it's right, it's wrong.
② Error Vanishes: If everyone's "truth" is valid, no one can ever be wrong—not Trump's lies, not anti-vaxxer fantasies, not climate denial. Argument becomes pure manipulation.
③ Reality Strikes Back: Causality, gravity, and disease give a damn about our opinions. Relativism can't explain why bridges don't collapse just because someone doesn't "believe" in gravity.
④ Progress Dies: Science, medicine, and technology advance by discovering what actually works. If every framework is equally valid, there's no rational grounds to prefer surgery over bloodletting, democracy over dictatorship, knowledge over myth. Progress becomes impossible.
⑤ Moral Collapse: If values are relative, "genocide is wrong" is just one opinion among others. No condemnation—of slavery, racism, oppression—carries any more weight than its denial.
⑥ Bullies Win: Without standards, the powerful define "truth." Propaganda, fake news, and authoritarian lies thrive—witness Trumpism and post-truth politics destroying reality itself.
⑦ Unlivable: Even zealous relativists cross streets on green, demand medicine that works, and rage when you break contracts. If truth were actually relative, civilization would collapse by Tuesday
⑧ Science Works: When belief systems consistently produce accurate predictions, effective interventions, or working technologies, their success isn't "relative"—it reflects actual reality.
⑨ Reason is Universal: Cross-cultural understanding, translation, and cooperation work only because certain standards—logic, evidence, coherence—are not relative; they are universal tools of reason that operate across all systems.
⑩ Total Absurdity: If all standards are relative, so is relativism itself. Final destination: astrology equals astrophysics, QAnon equals epidemiology.
In short: Relativism is internally incoherent, epistemologically crippling, ethically catastrophic, and practically impossible. It cannot distinguish knowledge from belief, discovery from error, or justice from propaganda. It is the authoritarian's weapon: "There is no truth, only power." For anyone who values reason, freedom, or progress, relativism is not philosophy—it's intellectual surrender. Reject it with the contempt it deserves.