Hi James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> Harzem Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 10-Jun-07 4:46:49 PM >>> On Jun 10, 2007, at 3:49 PM, Jim Clark wrote: > "His work redefined knowledge 'as a matter of conversation and of > social practice, rather than as an attempt to mirror nature' and > thus redefined philosophy itself as an unending, democratically > disciplined, social and cultural activity of inquiry, reflection, > and exchange, rather than an activity governed and validated by the > concept of objective, extramental [sic] truth." While I am no supporter of all of Rotry's positions, I think the notion that he was anti-scientific goes too far. Note two points in the above quotation: (1) It is about 'knowledge' and not only one kind of knowledge namely science; (2) with regard to 'objective, experimental truth' Rorty's point was that [all] knowledge cannot and should not exclusively be governed and validated by scientific truth. JC: It has been a few years since reading Rorty, but my recollection (perhaps wrong) was that his statement about knowledge being conversation applied to all knowledge, which would deny access to objective truth even by scientific approaches. Hence my choice of the term "anti-science." I do not want to extend this topic, important though it is; so, let me end with the following observation. If it were possible to measure the totality of knowledge held by any member of this list, it would be found that for each of us 'scientific' knowledge constitutes the small portion of the totality; the rest would be such things as father's, mother's and sibling's names, where you live and what is your income, how to eat with a knife and fork, who are your friends, what they are like, etc., etc., etc. and so, endlessly. Peter JC: So was Rorty claiming that these kinds of knowledge were not based on objective truths? That is, it is debatable whether my father's name was James Harold Clark and that my mother's maiden name was Florence Brittain. I thought Rorty was emphasizing more deliberative types of knowledge of interest to psychologists and other academics. Take care Jim --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
