Several debates of the last years within the research field of contemporary realism - known
under titles such as New Realism Continental Realism or Speculative Materialism - have shown
that science is not systematically the ultimate measure of truth and reality. This does not
mean that we should abandon the notions of truth or objectivity all together as has been
posited repeatedly within certain currents of twentieth century philosophy. However within the
research field of contemporary realism the concept of objectivity itself has not been
adequately refined. What is objective is supposed to be true outside a subject's biases
interpretations and opinions having truth conditions that are met by the way the world is. The
volume combines articles of internationally outstanding authors who have published on either
Idealism Epistemic Relativism or Realism and often locate themselves within one of these
divergent schools of thought. As such the volume focuses on these traditions with the aim of
clarifying what the concept objectivity nowadays stands for within contemporary ontology and
epistemology beyond the analytic-continental divide.
