Re: BHA: Knowledge as a social product

[Ruth Groff <rgroff@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi Mervyn, all,

I wrote:

 >Marko contends that, as he put it, knowledge is not "produced."
 >Rather (as he puts it), it is discovered.  And often by single individuals --
 >who need not be thought of as being engaged in activity that is social.

I don't take myself to be engaging in name-calling when I refer to this position as positivist.  There are elements of the positivist theory of knowledge that are quite compelling, in my view, both philosophically and politically; it's not position that should be dismissed via caricature.  Certainly, many on the left have espoused it, so Marko is hardly alone.

What I am saying is that it is at odds with a non-positivist theory of knowledge such as the one that is integral to critical realism.

If you actually disagree with this, then maybe we can (yet again!) agree to disagree.

Warmly,
Ruth



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