The principle of charity (a principle of rational accommodation, a principle of humanity) is broadly discussed in the analytical philosophy of language as a prerequisite of understanding and communication (W. Quine, D, Davidson). It represents a kind of epistemic trust in the common abilities of the knowing agent and common cognitive situation. In contrast to this, the skeptical tradition rooted in Descartes puts an accent on the critical doubt as a main epistemological tool. The clash between the epistemological optimism (realism) and skepticism (relativism) generates a significant problem situation for those who endorse “fact-objectivism” and reject the social-epistemological vision of the cognitive agent.

The term “postnonclassical science” was originally coined by Vyacheslav Stepin and has gained considerable popularity in Russian philosophy of science. It signifies the contemporary state in the development of science at which the cognitive objectives of scientific research (the search for truth) are substituted for ecnonomical and socio-political objectives. The author critically discusses this view of contemporary science and argues that contemporary science retains its generic character and its main goal is still acquisition of true and objective knowledge. The notion of postnonclassical science is argued only to reflect the spread of applied research which have started to play a domninant role in science since the end of the XXth century.