Editing Relativism (section)

====Buddhism====
[[Madhyamaka|Madhyamaka Buddhism]], which forms the basis for many [[Mahayana]] Buddhist schools and which was founded by [[Nagarjuna|Nāgārjuna]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Garfield |first=Jay L. |title=Engaging Buddhism: Why it Matters in Philosophy |publisher=Oxford U.P. |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-020434-1 |location=Oxford}}</ref> Nāgārjuna taught the idea of relativity. In the Ratnāvalī, he gives the example that shortness exists only in relation to the idea of length. The determination of a thing or object is only possible in relation to other things or objects, especially by way of contrast. He held that the relationship between the ideas of "short" and "long" is not due to intrinsic nature ([[svabhāva]]). This idea is also found in the Pali Nikāyas and Chinese Āgamas, in which the idea of relativity is expressed similarly: "That which is the element of light ... is seen to exist on account of [in relation to] darkness; that which is the element of good is seen to exist on account of bad; that which is the element of space is seen to exist on account of form."<ref>[[David Kalupahana]], ''Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism.'' The University Press of Hawaii, 1975, pp. 96–97. In the Nikayas the quote is found at SN 2.150.</ref>

Madhyamaka Buddhism discerns two levels of truth:  relative and ultimate. The [[two truths doctrine]] states that there are ''Relative'' or conventional, common-sense truth, which describes our daily experience of a concrete world, and ''Ultimate'' truth, which describes the ultimate reality as ''[[sunyata]]'', empty of concrete and inherent characteristics. Conventional truth may be understood, in contrast, as "obscurative truth" or "that which obscures the true nature". It is constituted by the appearances of mistaken awareness. Conventional truth would be the appearance that includes a duality of apprehender and apprehended, and objects perceived within that. Ultimate truth is the phenomenal world free from the duality of apprehender and apprehended.<ref name="LevinsonAug06">Levinson, Jules (August 2006) ''[http://www.berotsana.org/pdf/lotsawa_timesII_sc.pdf Lotsawa Times Volume II]'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724083326/http://www.berotsana.org/pdf/lotsawa_timesII_sc.pdf|date=2008-07-24}}</ref>