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Outline on Epistemology
& the Sociology of Knowledge
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- Fill in the Blank |
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- Multiple Choice |
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- True & False |
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See Also: An Overview of the Methods of the Social Sciences |
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Introduction: Social sciences, humanities & even the
physical & life sciences struggle to understand how & what we understand:
What is knowledge?
What is the value of knowledge?
Is there a difference btwn truth & knowledge?
How do know something is knowledge?
correct? "the truth?" etc. |
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Epistemology: The theory or science of the
- origin
- nature
- limits
of knowledge |
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In the West, the Culture of Science is such that Science
has become "all powerful" in our society, making its anomalies difficult
to acknowledge |
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In our Culture of Science, we are socialized to believe that truth
/ knowledge is absolute |
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But the study of Epistemology makes it is apparent that science
/ knowledge is not absolute or certain |
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People often confuse objectivity & subjectivity assuming they mean,
respectively, certain & uncertain, just & unjust, true & false |
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Objectivity & subjectivity are distinguished simply by the Way
of Understanding that creates it |
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Objective knowledge is almost always created via science |
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Subjective knowledge is usually created through common sense, emotional
understanding, etc. |
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But, Science itself has a significant Subjective component |
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For most social sciences, knowledge is objective & subjective |
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Knowledge is not just facts, it is theories, & conjectures too |
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We often do not keep the "levels" of facts, theories, conjectures straight,
we often confuse them |
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Facts are never as independent of theory as we would like them to be
especially in the social sciences |
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Because even Scientific Knowledge has both an objective & subjective
component, there are no absolute facts |
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Example: THE "Standard Kilogram" is made up of a brick of platinum
& iridium, but it was found in the summer of 2003 that the Standard
Kilogram seemed to be losing weight & this weight loss could not be
explained |
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Example: Unemployment is 5.4%
The definition of "unemployed" frequently changes because it is a politically
& socially sensitive measure. You cannot be unemployed if you
are a student, out of work for more than 6 mos., a housewife, etc. |
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Subjectivity remains in science because knowledge is framed
by the FOUR conditions of:
a. ideas
b. the senses
c. paradigms
d. social / political conditions |
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One of the conditions of subjectivity is that
a. Knowledge is based on ideas |
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While facts are considered to be objective, theories, paradigms &
conjectures are subjective, & yet the line btwn them is never clear |
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The line btwn the objective & subjective aspects of knowledge are
not clear because facts are dependent for definition on theory |
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One of the conditions of subjectivity is that
b. Knowledge is based on the senses |
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Because of illusions & misperceptions, a researcher cannot trust
the senses, & instruments affect what they measure |
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One of the conditions of subjectivity is that
c. Knowledge is based on paradigms |
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We saw earlier that after a paradigm shift, many fundamentals of knowledge
change |
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One of the conditions of subjectivity of knowledge is that
d. Social & political conditions affect the composition
of knowledge |
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The subjectivity of knowledge can be seen in that the definitions of
unemployment, marriage, race, etc. are always influenced by the soci-historical-politico
context of that time, & thus change |
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The soci-historical-politico context of science does not necessarily
affect sciences' validity, but it may be used as a cover for bias |
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Bias affects subjectivity & objectivity through THREE processes
of pre-exising culture, the stratification of knowledge, & the control
of knowledge |
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There are THREE antidotes to bias |
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a. A particular soci-historical-political context impacts what
people in a society will & will not accept as knowledge or truth because
of pre-existing knowledge, beliefs, values, & norms, i.e. culture |
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Do you believe in multiple dimensions? ghosts? UFOs?
the Earth goes around the sun? |
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The Antidote to socio-histoical-political bias is to question
knowledge itself, have no blind faith in science; Keep on Questioning
"Question Authority" |
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b. A particular soci-historical-politico context stratifies the
value of knowledge |
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The Knowledge about a stock may be of value to Martha Steward
The Knowledge of how to make a gun full auto may be of value to the
Crips
The Knowledge of particular birth control methods is of value to women |
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Knowledge is controlled based on its value to conflicting groups in
society |
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The Antidote to the stratification of knowledge is to ask, "Who
benefits from a given bit of knowledge?" |
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c. A particular soci-historical-politico context puts particular
people, groups, societies in the position to create, destroy, control knowledge |
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The Antidote to particular groups controlling knowledge is to
ask: "Who controls or creates that knowledge?" |
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Montesquieu recognized that knowledge was 'contextual' as a
result of his extensive travels |
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The Precautionary Rule is a caveat to the scientific methods which
holds that because evidence of harm is uncertain,
& error costs are very high, it is acceptable to take precautionary
action |
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