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Dialogue and Universalism

Volume 18, Issue 7/8, 2008
Epistemology—From Old Dilemmas to New Perspectives

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Displaying: 1-19 of 19 documents


1. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Małgorzata Czarnocka Editorial — Epistemology in Flux
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2. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Marek Hetmański Preface
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i. between tradition and present times
3. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Marek Hetmański Epistemology—Old Dilemmas and New Perspectives
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The paper presents a survey of traditional problems tackled by epistemology throughout its history, especially its meta-theoretical inclination as well as the old dilemma of its normative versus descriptive nature. I sketch the prevailing models of epistemological normativity (epistemic values such as truth, falsity, justification, or evidence etc.), and show how they function, what their essence and genesis are, how they change and what influences them. I also consider the utility of epistemology for science, education and practice in respect of its critical disposition toward cognition, knowledge, and communication. Finally, I outline some perspectives epistemology could open if it would really analyze and predict the complex and manifold human cognitive phenomena.
ii. epistemology in the socio-cultural context
4. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Barbara Tuchańska Replacing Epistemology with a Socio-historical Hermeneutics of Cognition. A Project for Research and Teaching
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I argue that philosophical reflection on cognition and knowledge should not be shaped into an epistemological theory in a strict sense. It ought to be understood as a hermeneutic study of the social and dynamic (historical) nature of cognition.
5. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Barbara Kotowa A Historical and Cultural Research Perspective in Epistemology
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In the paper I point out to some problems of the traditional epistemology, i.e. epistemology oriented to search the foundations of cognitive evaluation. The epistemology of that kind which makes up the world outlook of science, I oppose the cultural studies reflection in a scientific knowledge practiced within one of the humanities domains of knowledge, for example, the theoretical history of science, which is limited in its cognitive tasks to the descriptive, reconstructive and explanatory study of science.
6. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Alina Motycka Cognitive Actions in Scientific Research and Epistemology
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The fundamental—from the philosophy of science point of view—question of the growth of scientific knowledge implicates epistemological investigations of the creation context in science. In the paper I am arguing this thesis.
7. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Elżbieta Pakszys What and To Whom Is Particularism for in the Theory of Cognition? On the Feminist Epistemological Destination
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A woman’s perspective, or the so called feminist standpoint, needs to be incorporated into a theory of cognition to highlight its particular stance, to counter the present tendency to expect special advantages in cognition connected with gender specific (feminine) experience, which though not yet sufficiently recognized, is often neglected or denied to women.The most clarified stances, however, are not claiming the right to universality, considering the rather important anthropological/contextual differences between the subject/s of knowledge concerning race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. If ever to look for pragmatic justifications feminist epistemology needs to be a philosophical discipline, in order to indicate new ways/directions through a detailed critique of traditional knowledge and science, as well as present new goals and methods, especially for particular disciplines with anthropological problems.The humanitarian mission in the project of “imprinting women into the process and result of cognition” one can consider as simply an additional factor justifying the development of philosophical particularism in gynocentric studies following the democratization of recent formulations and institutions regarding knowledge/cognition.
iii. autonomous and priviliged position of epistemology
8. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Józef Dębowski On Epistemology and Some of Its Oddities. Why I Am Not a Representationist
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I argue for a standpoint that—against various kinds of naturalism—epistemology is a complete philosophical science. Epistemology is theoretically and methodologically self-sufficient. It has its good described subject, its characteristic research methods and its exactly described goal. The subject of epistemology is broadly comprehended cognition (knowledge)—cognition (knowledge) is comprehended as action as well as result. Among various methods peculiar to philosophy it is necessary to distinguish first of all phenomenological, transcendental and analytical methods. However, the main goal of epistemology has been and still is a solution of the objective cognition issue—the problem of cognition adequacy and of its transcendence. Epistemology can achieve this goal only when: (1) it resists the temptation of its subject naturalization; (2) against the propositional theory of truth it operates a broad concept of cognition; (3) against manykinds of representationism (mediatism) it does not resign from the concept of direct cognition, i.e. view of presentationism. Thanks to reference to source cognitions and direct knowledge the realistic world view is also defendable.
9. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Aldona Pobojewska, Michał Lachman Epistemology and Science: Integrism or Separatism
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Epistemology, confronted with a rapid development of individual branches of science, has been pressed to establish its own status and position as well as to define its relation with science. The multiple perspectives on this issue can be grouped into two major positions: integrism (postulates a close co-existence between epistemology and science) and separatism (argues in favour of a full independence of science and epistemology).In the paper I analyse the two views and try to prove that the debate between integrism and separatism cannot be resolved, as the two approaches belong to different and incompatible philosophical traditions: analytical and transcendental. In the article these issues are examined, and arguments in favour of the separatist view are offered. It is argued for the clear separation of epistemology from science.
10. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Renata Ziemińska My Experience in the Field of Epistemology
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The paper presents four stages of author’s epistemological experience: Roman Ingarden’s autonomous theory of knowledge, the anti-naturalistic theory of knowledge by Roderick Chisholm, the naturalistic epistemology by Alvin Goldman, and the epistemology of classical problems of truth and skepticism. The conclusion is the following: epistemology should make use of human knowledge results, especially cognitive sciences and reflect on the problem of truth, the challenge of skepticism, the possibility of knowledge and human cognitive condition (science, religion, art). The social role of the epistemologist is not to resolve all these existentially important questions but to be an expert (to know the state of discussion and to deliver his/her opinions).
11. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Małgorzata Czarnocka Epistemology Naturalizing and Metaphysics
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It is shown that the program of naturalizing of epistemology, that is, the program of the whole substitution of epistemology for sciences or for the humanities is not realizable. Naturalized epistemology includes metaphysical (in Kant’s sense: synthetic, speculative, a priori) claims which save its partly autonomous philosophical status. The result presented in the paper does not exclude the naturalizing program. It leads, instead, to a modified, attenuated version of it—such one which permits to open epistemology by transferring it in multi-facet vivid philosophical investigations juxtaposed with science and the humanities. The postulated attenuated version of naturalizing does not result in destroying epistemology as a special philosophical domain of investigations, not substitutable for sciences.
iv. epistemology’s relations with other disciplines
12. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Urszula Żegleń Cognitive Science and Epistemology: Old Wine in a New Bottle?
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I investigate the relationship between traditional philosophical epistemology and cognitive science. I start my considerations with the following questions: does the development of cognitive science require any revision of epistemology, akin to the revision required in some areas analytic philosophy after the emergence of quantum physics? Does cognitive science continue philosophical epistemology or is the complete break with traditional philosophical approaches?
13. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Paweł Kawalec Computational Epistemology
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The paper discusses basic philosophical assumptions of the new conception of scientific research which tends to possibly complete automation of research. The theoretical underpinnings of reliable inquiry sets a framework for a comprehensive spectrum of attainable solutions to a research problem formulated in the framework given the theoretical assumptions and available evidence. The framework is general, but the success criteria are adjustable to a domain of inquiry. Research on causal dependencies in macroeconomics seems a successful application of the framework.
14. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Andrzej Kapusta Epistemology and the Human Sciences
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In this paper I make a distinction between some characteristic features of human activity which not only challenge the possibility of being explained (reduced) in terms of cause and effect relationship, or by universal regularities, but which assign an element of interpretation and understanding to every human activity. My aim is to demonstrate that it is not the understanding that is submitted to scientific explanation but that every scientific explanation contains the component of interpretation and is evaluated from the viewpoint of our everyday, pre-reflexive being in the world and commonly (often implicite) accepted contexts and assumptions. In other words, we have to constantly refer to the existing background—a network of unspecifiable beliefs and practices. I would like to point out, after Charles Taylor and Hubert Dreyfus, that the responsible epistemology of the humanities must overcome a series of assumptions of modern and contemporarycognitive theory which appeared to be surprisingly congruent with the classic thinking paradigm concerning natural sciences. Last but not least, I would like to prove, relying upon involved epistemology or hermeneutic proto-epistemology, the possibility of mutual symbiotic relationship between the perspective of natural sciences and the humanities.
15. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Piotr Markiewicz Naturalistic Limits of Phenomenology of Perception
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I discuss the limits of Ingarden’s phenomenology of perception from a naturalistic perspective. Ingarden did not propose any proper method of the realization of the applied theory of perception (critics of perception). This situation enables to apply empirical data from cognitive neurosciences. The applied procedure shows that basic components of the phenomenology of perception are not valid.
16. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Barbara Trybulec The Meaning of “Normativity” within Naturalized Epistemology. Some Consequences of Naturalizing Epistemic Norms
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The paper undertakes the problem of normativity within naturalized epistemology. The following issue is analyzed: can naturalism be developed as a normative enterprise, and if it can, what conditions it must satisfy to achieve a status of epistemology? According to “the standard condition”, in order to give a substantial account of normativity naturalism must present a theory of epistemic norms which are derived from descriptive statements about facts but which are not reduced to them. The thesis is that although naturalism cannot present the conception of genuine epistemic norms which satisfy “the standard condition” it is still normative. Namely, within naturalism epistemic norms are descriptive statements about empirical phenomena which are expressed in normative form for the sake of everyday life and scientific practice.
17. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Call for Papers — ISUD Eighth World Congress “Dialogue among Cultures: Peace, Justice and Harmony” 23–28, July 2009
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18. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Editorial Information: Conference of the Society for Universal Dialogue (Hiroshima, 2007)
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19. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 18 > Issue: 7/8
Call for Papers 39th International Conference of the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations (ISCSC)
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