Amy asked:

This is my first time on here. Just started uni and studying philosophy for the first time. I was
wondering if anyone could tell me sources to look in order to find definitions or explanations of the
terms 'relativism' and 'absolutism'. I am struggling with absolutism. I have to write an essay
contrasting and comparing the two and am struggling. So if anyone could help with ideas I would be
extremely grateful.

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You could be talking about moral, metaphysical, aesthetic or epistemic relativism. They share the key
idea of something (values, reality,beauty, knowledge) being relative to a particular standpoint or
conceptual scheme, whether personal or cultural, and they all deny that there is an objective means
of determining that one standpoint is preferable to others.Absolutists assert the opposite.

For articles on moral and cultural relativism, you could try this link:

http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/infocusprint.php?num=15&subject=cultural.

(Look especially at the article by Simon Blackburn, or you could read the relevant chapter of his book
Think.)

You could also try this article:

Swoyer, Chris, "Relativism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2003 Edition), Edward
N. Zalta (ed.) http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2003/entries/relativism/.

Graham Nutbrown