ABSTRACT
Conceptual relativism, unlike cultural relativism, is primarily motivated by philosophical considerations about the relationship between the mind, language and the world, rather than empirical observations of diversity and difference. The starting point of conceptual relativism is the philosophical position that the world does not come ready-made or ready-carved; rather, we divide it into various categories and kinds by applying a conceptual scheme or categorical framework. The point, as Jaakko Hintikka expresses it, is:
Whatever we say of the world is permeated throughout with concepts of our own making. Even such prima facie transparently simple notions as that of an individual turn out to depend on conceptual assumptions dealing with different possible states of affairs. As far as our thinking is concerned, reality cannot be in principle wholly disentangled from our concepts. A Ding an sich, which could be described or even as much as individuated without relying on some particular conceptual framework, is bound to remain an illusion.
