quotations about absolutism
We find that absolutism is one of the key characteristics of extremist ideology.... From absolutism, we can also find other characteristics such as literalism, and also a sense of exclusiveness. So when it comes to absolutism, these individuals, they believe that their teachings and their way is the only rightful way and they do not accept the teachings of others. This will lead to a sense of exclusiveness within themselves.
MOHAMED ALI
"Absolutism often the seed of extremist ideology: Terror experts", Channel News Asia, June 28, 2015
A modern theory of knowledge which takes account of the relational as distinct from the merely relative character of all historical knowledge must start with the assumption that there are spheres of thought in which it is impossible to conceive of absolute truth existing independently of the values and position of the subject and unrelated to the social context.
KARL MANNHEIM
Ideology and Utopia
Relativity must replace absolutism in the realm of morals as well as in the spheres of physics and biology. This of course does not involve the denial of the principle of continuity in human affairs. Nor does it mean that each generation must repudiate the system of values of its predecessors. It does mean, however, that no such system is permanent; that it will have to change and grow in response to experience.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
Character Education
A sensible, mature society recognizes that extreme, destructive positions in the name of constitutional absolutism is just another form of fundamentalism; it seeks to prevent even the consideration of reasonable, responsive policies to address national problems by declaring them preemptively out of line.
GLOBE EDITORIAL BOARD
"Make It Stop", Boston Globe, June 15, 2016
Absolutism is what is totalitarian and oppressive, intolerant of any but its own 'truth', which it protects with indoctrination, censorship and active persecution.
KENNETH WAIN
"Heart of Liberal Thought", Times of Malta, December 4, 2015
The art of compromise is demanding and arduous and all of us have much to learn. So much more work needs to happen on global, national, and interpersonal fronts. But first, we must consider our own egos, not letting our latent tribal tendencies take hold of our better nature. We must be willing to retract on our absolutes for the sake peace on Earth.
RAV SHMULY
"Choosing love over justice: The sacred duty of compromise", On the Front Lines with Rav Shmuly, March 2, 2015
Power corrupts and tilts towards absolutism when it has no moral, political and legal checks.
SALEEM SAFI
"Fata: now or never", The News International, November 16, 2016
To ascribe excessive individualism to viewpoint absolutism is to misconstrue democracy altogether. To find 'too much' individualism within public discourse would be to find 'too much' citizenship there.
ERIC HEINZE
Hate Speech and Democratic Citizenship
Teaching marginalised people that their concerns will always be imperiously dismissed, always subordinated to some decontextualised free-speech absolutism is a silencing tactic.
LINDY WEST
"'Political correctness' doesn't hinder free speech -- it expands it", The Guardian, November 15, 2015
Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.
BERTRAND RUSSELL
"Philosophy for Laymen", Unpopular Essays
Though different factions of absolutists are at each other's throats, they are really one community -- the people who insist that they already know absolutely everything they need to about some big topic.
JEREMY SHERMAN
"The More Accurate Term for 'Extremist' We Should All Consider Adopting", AlterNet, December 9, 2016
Does it seem to you impossible to imagine anything more inextricable than the social contract, when you think of the frightful number of relations that it must regulate -- something like squaring the circle, or finding perpetual motion? That is the reason why, wearied of the struggle, you fall back on absolutism and force.
PIERRE-JOSEPH PROUDHON
General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century
Your absolutism belies your unfamiliarity with the grand arc of history, one where you would find that more and more, absolutism is a terrorism of the mind.
TIZZYD
user comment, "EPA Regulation Would Ban Racecar Builds", Art of Gears, February 8, 2016
The idea of God is the type and foundation of the principle of authority and absolutism, which it is our task to destroy or at least to subordinate wherever it manifests itself.
JOSEPH-PIERRE PROUDHON
The Philosophy of Poverty: The System of Economic Contradictions
The other problem of mislabeling this ideology is the missed opportunity to find the real culprit. I would argue that it is absolutism -- the self-perpetuating belief in one's own truths with the self-supposed right to impose them on others while being closed to reason, logic and doubt. Absolutism is a very human problem. Since we are not by default immune to it, neither is anything else. A religion does not need to be inherently violent for inherently violent acts to be justified through it. Communism, Nazism and fascism are examples of secular absolutist worldviews terrorizing millions. Likewise, terrorists claiming Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist motivation exist today as they did yesterday.
OZCAN KELES
"Violent extremist ideology: Islam by implication or absolutism by nature", Today's Zaman, March 20, 2015
The truth is found somewhere in between relativism and absolutism. Pure relativism is nonsense. Man is not the maker and measure of all things. We didn't create the law of thermodynamics, but we have the capacity to discover, understand, and exploit it for our benefit. The same holds true for situational ethics. Relativism works well for slobs and sociopaths--thus its broad popular appeal. Resist it. Absolutism, by contrast, fails to recognize the limits of what we can know and do. Absolutism is headstrong in the pursuit of what it deems the truth. You can compromise with others without compromising your principles. Knowing how to do that is a key to living well in civilized society.
DAVID DESROSIERS
"Love, Dad", City Journal, October 18, 2015
All human beliefs contain within them the seeds of absolutism. As citizens it is our duty to respect the beliefs of others without resorting to the extremes of condoning morally reprehensible behaviour or condemning ideas we can't understand. Ultimately, the only way to fight absolutism is to first fight the absolutist tendencies that lie within ourselves.
LIAM MCLAUGHLIN
"Absolutism, Not Islam, Is The Problem", Huffington Post, December 11, 2012
Furious absolutism is a satisfying way to think, and I can't even argue it isn't valid. But it's also a kind of surrender -- a mental secession, like emigrating to a Canada of the mind. The level of sustained rage it requires also threatens to harrow out your soul. Condemning half the human race -- which is, after all, just another species -- as insane or evil is usually a sign that something is off in your worldview.
TIM KREIDER
"I love America. It's Americans I hate", The Week, January 9, 2017
The danger they have been taught to fear from absolutism is not error but intolerance.
GLENN B. SINISCALCHI
Retrieving Apologetics
By its very nature absolutism is inconsistent with the natural rights that people bring into society when they engage in the mutual contract that brings that society into existence.
A. C. GRAYLING
The Age of Genius: The Seventeenth Century and the Birth of the Modern Mind