Epistemology Archives

Psychology

Subtractive Epistemology: How to Add Value by Taking Things Away

The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set some limit on infinite error.—Bertolt Brecht Pathological hoarding (syllogomania) is a well-known psychological disorder…

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13 min

Constitutions, Frontiers, Revelations and Truths: New Books by Jonathan Rauch, A. C. Grayling, Erik Hoel and Salman Rushdie

This article consists of reviews of four books that, while different in many ways, have certain things in common. Some of the connections are fairly direct—A. C. Grayling’s The Frontiers…

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6 min

Journalistic Objectivity: What Is True and What Is Important?

The objectivity, reliability and transparency of the news have become hot topics in recent years. Ours is the era of supposedly fake news, in which there is little consensus about…

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5 min

Philosophy

The Epistemological Debt

Nowadays, 5G detractors and coronavirus deniers have invaded the place usually occupied by anti-vaxxers and their like. But not long ago this crowded realm was the province of yet another…

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5 min

Philosophy

How Individualism Created Our Postmodern Culture

Have the courage to use your own reason was never intended to be a cruel slogan, but it was meant for simpler times. The complexity of twentieth century institutions combined…

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7 min

Philosophy

Objectivity and the Construction of Knowledge

Photo by Simon Migaj Objectivity is generally understood as a way to observe the world that is not influenced by the situation of the observer, such that the ideas produced reflect…

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12 min

“Why Trust Science?” by Naomi Oreskes.

Photo by Louis Reed It was 27 January 1985, the fortieth anniversary of the camp’s liberation. Holding candles, their faces mutilated and bodies disfigured, the survivors of Josef Mengele’s experiments on…

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11 min

Philosophy

The Misconceptions of Anti-Postmodernists

Image by Zdeněk Tobiáš Anti-postmodern commentaries are certainly in vogue these days. Whether penned by conservatives or liberals, they all support the same basic assumption: postmodernism is dangerous. For instance, Robert…

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26 min

Philosophy

How Critical Theory Came to Be Skeptical of Science

In the introduction to Dialectic of Enlightenment, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer write: When public opinion has reached a state in which thought inevitably (emphasis mine) becomes a commodity, and language the…

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16 min

Philosophy

Critical Theory from the Frankfurt School to Foucault

Critical Theory is a modern philosophical development that stems, in large part, from a group of twentieth-century philosophers affiliated with the Frankfurt School, who argued that the culture of Enlightenment,…

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4 min

Politics

Intersectional Feminism Precludes Epistemic Humility

In an earlier blog post for Heterodox Academy, I argued that the reason why elite intellectual venues (i.e. universities and print media) are often hostile to conservatives has more to…

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Epistemology

Subtractive Epistemology: How to Add Value by Taking Things Away

Constitutions, Frontiers, Revelations and Truths: New Books by Jonathan Rauch, A. C. Grayling, Erik Hoel and Salman Rushdie

Journalistic Objectivity: What Is True and What Is Important?

The Epistemological Debt

How Individualism Created Our Postmodern Culture

Objectivity and the Construction of Knowledge

“Why Trust Science?” by Naomi Oreskes.

The Misconceptions of Anti-Postmodernists

How Critical Theory Came to Be Skeptical of Science

Critical Theory from the Frankfurt School to Foucault

Intersectional Feminism Precludes Epistemic Humility

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