Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The distinction between absolute and relative terms was introduced by Peter Unger in his 1971 paper A Defense of Skepticism and differentiates between terms that, in their most literal sense, don't admit of degrees (absolute terms) and those that do (relative terms). [1]
Relative tense and absolute tense are distinct possible uses of the grammatical category of tense. Absolute tense means the grammatical expression of time reference (usually past, present or future) relative to "now" – the moment of speaking. In the case of relative tense, the time reference is construed relative to a different point in time ...
An absolute scale differs from an arbitrary, or "relative", scale, which begins at some point selected by a person and can progress in both directions. An absolute scale begins at a natural minimum, leaving only one direction in which to progress. An absolute scale can only be applied to measurements in which a true minimum is known to exist.
Absolute magnitudes are denoted by a capital M, with a subscript representing the filter band used for measurement, such as M V for absolute magnitude in the V band. An object's absolute bolometric magnitude (M bol) represents its total luminosity over all wavelengths, rather than in a single filter band, as expressed on a logarithmic magnitude ...
Relative humidity, often expressed as a percentage, indicates a present state of absolute humidity relative to a maximum humidity given the same temperature. Specific humidity is the ratio of water vapor mass to total moist air parcel mass. Humidity plays an important role for surface life.
The absolute change in this situation is 1 percentage point (4% − 3%), but the relative change in the interest rate is: % % % = … = %. In general, the term "percentage point(s)" indicates an absolute change or difference of percentages, while the percent sign or the word "percentage" refers to the relative change or difference.
On the contrary, absolute deprivation is people's actual negative condition; relative deprivation is what people think they should have relative to what others have, or even compared with their own past or perceived future. Improved conditions fuel human desires for even better conditions and so can spark revolutions.
The absolute is essence, the relative is function. They can't be seen as separate realities, but interpenetrate each other. The distinction does not "exclude any other frameworks such as neng-so or "subject-object" constructions", though the two "are completely different from each other in terms of their way of thinking".