Pluralism and relativism

 

Pluralism is simply a belief that there is no one answer to anything, this is much like postmodernism. There are two types of pluralism however:

Firstly there is Normative pluralism/relativism (or nihilism) is essentially the acceptance of all narratives, expressions and norms, claiming that no one is better than all the others.

Secondly, there is a kind of postmodernism which is pluralist in the sense that it accepts different views, without denying that something is better than other things.

In this latter case of pluralism or postmodernism, we are faced with the old idea of defending other people’s right to say whatever they wish, without accepting their points of view. It is this second kind which allows some form of rebuttal to criticisms of Postmodernism (like those put forward by Jameson) and perhaps stops it being so annoyingly smug a theory.