âEpistemologyâ - Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education

“Epistemology” 

The word that means “the theory of knowledge”; this is 

the theoretical area that explores how we know what we 

know. This should be an important area for school 

people to explore... 

? 

Some epistemological questions: 

Where does knowledge come from? 

What is the place of experience in generating 

knowledge? 

What is the place of reason in generating knowledge? 

What is the relationship between knowledge and 

certainty? 

How does knowledge change when we conceptualize 

the world differently? 

What is the nature of truth? 

What is the nature of meaning? 

What is the nature of experience? 

© Copyright 2007-2008 Gayle M. Turner

“Metaphysics” 

Originally, this was the title for all the books that came 

after the Physics in the philosopher Aristotle’s writing 

(384BC-322BC.) 

Today: Metaphysics is any enquiry that raises questions 

about reality that lie beyond or behind those capable of 

being tackled by the methods of science. 

An old argument: Are there any such questions? (This 

questions refers to the perspective of the philosopher 

David Hume 1711-76, who believed there were not any 

such questions.) 

Does metaphysics provide the answer to all questions 

not answerable by the basic sciences? Or does it 

attempt to answer the questions left over by them? 


Thomas Kuhn 

Author of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 

(1922-1996) Paradigm shifts. 

The story we tell about things or ourselves changes. 

The heliocentric v. geocentric universe. 

Cover of a biography of Thomas Kuhn. 


Richard Rorty (1931- ) 

From Wikipedia: 

Reception and criticism 

“Because of the clarity and humor of his writing style, and 

his ability to undermine cherished assumptions, Rorty is 

one of the most widely-read contemporary philosophers. 

His political and moral philosophies have been under 

almost constant attack both from some on the Right, who 

call them relativist and irresponsible, and some on the 

Left, who believe them to be insufficient frameworks for 

social justice. The most common criticism is that Rorty's 

work is self-refuting (see Nagel and Nozick for instance), 

although such criticisms often play directly into Rorty's 

theories about arguing within versus arguing outside of a 

given 'language-game'.” 


Find the following definitions in 

“Solidarity as Objectivity:” 

1. What is a “realist”? 

2. What is a “pragmatist”? 

3. What is a “relativist”? 

4. What is a “God’s eye view”? 

? 


Key questions to consider from the 

readings: 

? 

1. What is truth as solidarity? 

2. Why does the scientist replace the priest? 

3. How do we cease to see the scientist as a priest, but instead 

as a moral exemplar? 

• The answer to this question has bearing on how we 

think of the creators of tests and analyzers of school 

performance. 

4. Why does he argue that the only virtue of scientists is 

moral virtue, not the virtue of rationality? 


Common notions of the nature of 

truth 

Two descriptions using metaphors: 

The building 

The boat 


The Building Metaphor 

Descartes (1596-1650) (1984, vol. 2, p. 366) uses this 

metaphor: 

“Throughout my writings I have made it clear that my 

method imitates that of the architect. When an 

architect wants to build a house which is stable on 

ground where there is a sandy topsoil over underlying 

rock, or clay, or some other firm base, he begins by 

digging out a set of trenches from which he removes 

the sand, and anything resting on or mixed in with the 

sand, so that he can lay his foundations on firm soil. In 

the same way, I began by taking everything that was 

doubtful and throwing it out, like sand; and then, when I 

noticed that it is impossible to doubt that a doubting or 

thinking substance exists, I took this as the bedrock on 

which I could lay the foundations of my philosophy.” 

Descartes, R. 1984. Philosophical Writings of Descartes (J. Cottingham & R. Stoothof & D. 

Murdoch, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 


The Boat Metaphor 

In the 1930s, Otto Neurath (1882-1945) (1959, p. 201) wrote: 

“No tabula rasa exists. We are like sailors who must rebuild their ship 

on the open sea, never able to dismantle it in dry-dock and to 

reconstruct it there out of the best materials. Only the metaphysical 

elements can be allowed to vanish without trace. Vague linguist 

conglomerations always remain in one way or another as components 

of the ship.” 

Quine (1908-2000) (1960, pp. 3-4) popularized the metaphor: 

"Neurath has likened science to a boat which, if we are to rebuild it, 

we must rebuild plank by plank while staying afloat in it. The 

philosopher and the scientist are in the same boat. Our boat stays 

afloat because at each alteration we keep the bulk of it intact as a 

going concern." 

Neurath, O. 1959. "Protocol Sentences." In Logical Positivism, edited by A. J. Ayer, pp. 199-208. 

Glencoe, IL: The Free Press. 

Quine, W. V. O. 1960. Word and Object. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 



What, according to Rorty, is the difference 

between: 

• Solidarity and Objectivity? 

? 

• (And, why does it matter to us?) 


Solidarity 

• Stories about people 

Objectivity 

• Stories about non-human 

reality 


Solidarity 

Objectivity 

• Pragmatists 

• The struggle to shift from 

objectivity to solidarity 

(democracy) 

• Realists 

• The search for absolute, 

non-human truth 


Solidarity 

Objectivity 

• “Human nature” is, in part, 

socially constructed over time 

• Solidarity is sought regarding 

ahistorical human nature 


Solidarity 

Objectivity 

• “t”ruth as 

what it is good for us to believe 

(somebody may come up with a 

better idea) 

• “T”ruth as 

correspondence to reality 


Solidarity 

Objectivity 

• Easy agreement: We call this 

“knowledge” 

• Think of a unanimous jury 

decision 

• Forced agreement is allowed 

• Think “inquisition”, or Galileo 

under house arrest 


Solidarity 

Objectivity 

• When it is difficult to agree: 

We call this opinion 

• Think, perhaps, of a hung jury 

• “It’s just an opinion. Who 

cares?” 

• Think “Nathan Price in the 

Congo.” 


? 

Solidarity 

Stories about people 

Pragmatist: The struggle to 

shift from objectivity to 

solidarity (democracy) 

“Human nature” is, in part, 

socially constructed over time 

“t”ruth: what it is good for us 

to believe (somebody may 

come up with a better idea) 

Easy agreement: We call this 

knowledge 

Difficult to agree: We call 

this opinion 

Objectivity 

Stories about non-human 

reality 

Realists: The search for 

absolute, non-human truth 

Absolute knowledge regarding 

ahistorical human nature 

“T”ruth as correspondence to 

reality 

Forced agreement is allowed 

If it’s opinion, perhaps 

disregard it 


Key questions to consider 

from the readings: 



• How do we cease to see the scientist as a 

priest, but instead as a moral exemplar? 

• The answers to this question have 

bearing on how we think of the creators 

of tests and the analyzers of school 

performance. 

• Why does he argue that the only virtue 

of scientists is moral virtue, not the 

virtue of rationality? 


Key questions to consider 

from the readings: 



• How do we cease to see the scientist as a 

priest, but instead as a moral exemplar? 

• The answers to this question have 

bearing on how we think of the creators 

of tests and the analyzers of school 

performance. 

• Why does he argue that the only virtue 

of scientists is moral virtue, not the 

virtue of rationality? 


Use what you’ve learned in FDN 5840: 

What might it look like to achieve solidarity around a difficult issue at 

your school? 

• The AP Language Arts class and the drama class have teamed 

up to produce the play “The Laramie Project.” 

• You’ve been busy, but generally felt this was a good idea. 

Then the ads for the production appear, and you find yourself in 

the middle of a media circus. 

• What do you do? 

• Even more importantly, how do you decide what to do? 


Adrian Arambulo, Reporter 

Church Group Protests 'The Laramie Project' 

(May 6) -- Students and staff at Las Vegas Academy are responding to 

flyers being distributed by a church group that says everyone associated 

with the school will "go to hell." 

The Kansas-based church is upset because they say the school is 

performing a play that promotes homosexuality. Eyewitness News spoke 

to an actor in the play and the school's principal. 

"It's basically about hatred and not to hate," said Leland Smith. Leland is 

a student and actor in the Las Vegas Academy's production of The 

Laramie Project. 

Leland Smith: "I feel bad for them. That's their ignorance, not really 

knowing about our school." 

Leland feels bad for members of the Westboro Baptist Church -- a group 

that's passing out flyers protesting the performance of the play. The flyer 

says everyone associated with Las Vegas Academy and the Laramie 

Project will eventually join Matt Shepard in hell. The play is based on 

Shepard -- a gay man who was beaten to death five years ago in 

Laramie, Wyoming. 

Leland Smith, student actor in the play 

The flyer from Westboro Baptist Church berates and insults the students 

and staff of Las Vegas Academy: "God hates Las Vegas Academy, the 

school board and all responsible for leading the kids to lives of sin, 

shame, and death in inculcating them that it's okay to be gay!" 

The church-goers plan on staging a protest at the school next 

Wednesday. They say the school is performing a play that promotes 

homosexuality propoganda. The letter says the school is wrong for 

performing a play about Matthew Shepard. 

Leaving this teen questioning -- Ryan Boylan: "How could they be so 

ignorant?" 

Patrick Boylan: "First thing I thought was God, this is religious terrorism." 

Patrick Boylan is Ryan's father, but he is also a member of the Nevada Board of Education: "Sure, they have 

a right to do what they want on public streets and all that stuff. It just doesn't seem right to scare the 

children." 

Voice of Shirley Phelps-Roper: "Those children don't have any fear of God. What's to be imitated. They think 

they're infallible and invincible." 

Stephen Clark, Las Vegas Academy: "One thing I'm communicating across to them is, 'I don't want to validate 

what they're doing.'" 

Stephen Clark is the school's principal and he's been fielding calls from parents and counseling students. 

"Some of the values we hold dear -- integrity, compassion, respect," he said. 

Clark is asking students and parents to stick to what they're doing and ignore the protestors when they arrive 

next Wednesday. 

Principal Stephen Clark: "Of course I'll have all my administrative staff, my support staff, we'll have teachers

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