The historicist approach to science has been accompanied by a culturalist one in the last decade ... more The historicist approach to science has been accompanied by a culturalist one in the last decade or two. Epistemic localism added a horizontal axis to the existing vertical (historical) one thus science came to be presented in a coordinate system as a manifold of epistemic traditions. Taking the debate about the existence of the N-ray as an instructive example, I argue that the historical development of science creates disciplinary communities that impose unified epistemic standards on the communities scrutinizing the same aspects of reality. Accordingly, with the advent of such communities relativism became one-dimensional: science has developed into a historically changing culture that puts up a successful fight against epistemic diversity in its synchronous dimension. Keywords: epistemic systems, geographical turn, local epistemologies, N-ray, objectivity, relativism
The essence of this paper revolves around the idea that the relativist perspective on science ste... more The essence of this paper revolves around the idea that the relativist perspective on science stems from an erroneous approach to the sociological factors influencing cognitive content. I argue that the understanding of scientific thinking should not be framed within the confines of traditional sociology of knowledge. Since science functions as a global institution with a standardized mode of thinking, the evaluation of its theories should involve an examination of the institutionally regulated processes leading to the construction and accreditation of knowledge.
The institutionalist approach proposes that justification through reasons and empirical data should be complemented by a reliabilist perspective.
The historicist approach to science has been accompanied by a culturalist one in the last decade ... more The historicist approach to science has been accompanied by a culturalist one in the last decade or two. Epistemic localism added a horizontal axis to the existing vertical (historical) one thus science came to be presented in a coordinate system as a manifold of epistemic traditions. Taking the debate about the existence of the N-ray as an instructive example, I argue that the historical development of science creates disciplinary communities that impose unified epistemic standards on the communities scrutinizing the same aspects of reality. Accordingly, with the advent of such communities relativism became one-dimensional: science has developed into a historically changing culture that puts up a successful fight against epistemic diversity in its synchronous dimension. Keywords: epistemic systems, geographical turn, local epistemologies, N-ray, objectivity, relativism
The essence of this paper revolves around the idea that the relativist perspective on science ste... more The essence of this paper revolves around the idea that the relativist perspective on science stems from an erroneous approach to the sociological factors influencing cognitive content. I argue that the understanding of scientific thinking should not be framed within the confines of traditional sociology of knowledge. Since science functions as a global institution with a standardized mode of thinking, the evaluation of its theories should involve an examination of the institutionally regulated processes leading to the construction and accreditation of knowledge.
The institutionalist approach proposes that justification through reasons and empirical data should be complemented by a reliabilist perspective.
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two. Epistemic localism added a horizontal axis to the existing vertical (historical) one thus science
came to be presented in a coordinate system as a manifold of epistemic traditions. Taking the debate
about the existence of the N-ray as an instructive example, I argue that the historical development of
science creates disciplinary communities that impose unified epistemic standards on the communities
scrutinizing the same aspects of reality. Accordingly, with the advent of such communities relativism
became one-dimensional: science has developed into a historically changing culture that puts up a
successful fight against epistemic diversity in its synchronous dimension.
Keywords: epistemic systems, geographical turn, local epistemologies, N-ray, objectivity, relativism
The institutionalist approach proposes that justification through reasons and empirical data should be complemented by a reliabilist perspective.
two. Epistemic localism added a horizontal axis to the existing vertical (historical) one thus science
came to be presented in a coordinate system as a manifold of epistemic traditions. Taking the debate
about the existence of the N-ray as an instructive example, I argue that the historical development of
science creates disciplinary communities that impose unified epistemic standards on the communities
scrutinizing the same aspects of reality. Accordingly, with the advent of such communities relativism
became one-dimensional: science has developed into a historically changing culture that puts up a
successful fight against epistemic diversity in its synchronous dimension.
Keywords: epistemic systems, geographical turn, local epistemologies, N-ray, objectivity, relativism
The institutionalist approach proposes that justification through reasons and empirical data should be complemented by a reliabilist perspective.