Truth and Relativism in Hilary in Jackie

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What is truth? This paper will show my understanding of truth through the film Hilary and Jackie. I will also show my understanding of relativism and explain the problem of truth. I will use examples from the film and the textbooks. The definition of truth is a statement that is proven or accepted. Relativism states that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them. This is also called cognitive relativism. Hilary and Jackie is a multiple-perspective film. This means that the same story is told in different character’s perspectives or how they saw it happen. This causes some inconsistencies in the stories. This film follows the lives of the two musician sisters from their childhood, where they were really close, to the rise of Jackie as a world-renowned concert cellist, which causes some rifts in the sister’s relationship. One of the inconsistencies in the two perspectives is that Jackie becomes more and more unhappy with her life and thinks that it has been put on her to have it that way, while her sister feels that it is her own fault for choosing that path. There are a couple other major inconsistencies in the two perspectives. The conversation at night when Hilary announces her engagement and the circumstances leading up to Jackie and Kiffer having sex. During the conversation at night the two perspectives show the two sisters viewing each other as being cruel. This all happens because Jackie replies, “The truth is, you’re not special.” Both of the sisters perspectives shows this response but with totally different meanings. Hilary views her sister as being the cruel one for saying such a sarcastic remark. Jackie views her sister as being cruel for thinking that she is better than her because she is getting married. The events that lead up to Kiffer and Jackie having sex are very different

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