A Limited View of Realism
Journal Title: Academicus - International Scientific Journal - Year 2012, Vol 3, Issue 6
Abstract
In the paper we argue that no neat border line between ontology and epistemology can be drawn. This is due to the fact that the separation between factual and conceptual is rather fuzzy, and the world is characterized by a sort of ontological opacity which makes the construction of any absolute ontology difficult. Our ontology is characterized by the fact that the things of nature are seen by us in terms of a conceptual apparatus that is inevitably influenced by mind-involving elements, and all this has important consequences on both the question of scientific realism and the realism/anti-realism debate. Conceptualization gives us access to the world, while, on the other, it is the most important feature of our cultural evolution. While the idealistic thesis according to which the mind produces natural reality looks hardly tenable, it is reasonable to claim instead that we perceive this same reality by having recourse to the filter of a conceptual apparatus whose presence is, in turn, connected to the development of language and social organization. Our science is essentially relational, and not absolute. The information with which it provides us is appropriate, but from our point of view. Science provides reliable information on the world, but this information is always relative to a particular framework, and it is a mistake to think that the limits of our cognitive capacities only have an aprioristic character. Science constantly attempts at providing answers to our questions about how things stand in the world, and thus purports to offer reliable information about it. But it should also be recognized that the extent to which science succeeds in accomplishing this task is disputable. What kind of realism, thus, can we actually endorse? Despite what many relativists claim, realism still is an arguable and defendable position. If one asks what difference is made to our knowledge claims if we accept the existence of an extra-conceptual world, the answer is the following: such recognition undermines the diffused anthropocentric stance which identifies reality with our limited knowledge of it.
Authors and Affiliations
Michele Marsonet
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP120022
- DOI 10.7336/academicus.2012.06.02
- Views 132
- Downloads 0
Europe and the integration process
People in different country, may find that globalization and transnationalization of the nation also offer opportunities. Globalization in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomen...
Refugees in Italy: a pilot study of their reception and integration process
This paper represents the preliminary analysis of a pilot research carried out by CIR and the Department of social Studies of the University of Rome “Sapienza” (together with Italian non-profit organisations) on the leve...
Global security challenges and their impact on the Security Strategy of Kosova
Security is a fundamental prerequisite for the existence and development of humans and their society. Its scientific research and understanding is focused both on the State as a single entity, and on the international po...
Active position of the country in the world market of agrarian products as an indicator of the underdevelopment level of its economy
The article examines the role of countries in the development of the world market of agrarian products. At the same time, the world production and exports of agrarian products are considered not only in terms of countrie...
Communication as ethical facilitator
The purpose of the article is to offer a reflection on the ethical aspect of communication, more from a practised, experienced perspective than according to abstract models characterised by theoretical regulation and def...