First proposed by Jonathan Schaffer, contrastivism is an alternative approach to traditional philosophical questions that aims to dissovle rather than solve philosophical puzzles. It claims that philosophers have not been explicit enough in their questions, suggesting instead that questions must be framed in relation to relative contrasts, which yields more complicated answers. Simply asking, "Did Person X perform ethically in Situation Y?" does not cut it for the the contrastivist!

Walter Sinott-Armstrong of Duke University introduces contrastivism in the following episode of Wireless Philosophy. Does contrastivism truly pose a revolution for how we approach philosophy? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.