What is this philosophical concept called?

Question

the notion that ideas and beliefs are always the product of social conditions, rather than some 'eternal truths' that have been 'discovered'

(as in Marxism and Nietzsche's philosophy)

is there a specific term for it? (is the term 'materialism' sufficient to capture it?)

Answer 1

Conditionalism, to coin a word - if it does not exist already in some other sense.

Answer 2

This is called 'Cultural Relativity'.  It is the philosophical basis of the science, sociology.

The roots of it extend back to Machiavelli, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche and existentialism.

Nietzsche is the most difficult to place, because his philosophy has elements of all other moderns.

Answer 3

Let's say God descends and although He knows infinite Truth, He can only translate it as far as human understanding is at the time. He can't invent words, so He's stuck with the social knowledge and words of the society He is residing. He can use the words available and know what people know thus far, but He can only go so far in advancing their knowledge, which is what He does.  

Answer 4

Well, there's the concept of tabula rasa, particularly in relation to the nature vs. nurture debate:

Tabula rasa (Latin: blank slate) refers to the epistemological thesis that individual human beings are born with no innate or built-in mental content, in a word, "blank", and that their entire resource of knowledge is built up gradually from their experiences and sensory perceptions of the outside world.

Answer 5

Consider that the whole of the universe is only 13.4 billions years old, so tell me what truth is eternal?  And where is your evidence of that?  If your answers involve any faith, then remember religion and even mathematics are social conditioning for a small set of living beings on earth -- namely human or any animals trained with the associated concepts, of god or of counting and numbers.

Answer 6

Materialism, in general, is the belief that nothing beyond matter - the material world - exists; it says little about the nature of the truths it uncovers other than that they will not involve minds, spirits, deities, etc.

I would suggest that the term 'constructivism' comes close to the idea that ideas and beliefs are the product of social conditions, rather than things 'discovered'.