Construction of Scientific Facts – Why is Relativism Essential in Bypassing Incommensurable Gaps in Humanities. Case of Personal Involvement – Biased Scientific Facts

Lucija Mulej

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.4.1.11

Authors

Lucija Mulej Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.4.1.11

Keywords:

Comparative methods, Interdisciplinary research, Paradigm (gestalt) shift, Relativism, Incommensurability, Psychoanalysis, Interpretative gaps, Epistemology, Logical inconsistency, Logic

Abstract

This paper addresses the theory of knowledge in relativistic terms of Paul Feyerabend, stressing the importance of personal involvement in the research and theorizing. Since the topic is a constant and widely accepted premise the author is insisting that it has been actually ignored in the sociology and philosophy of science. It is apparent in discursive form, neglected in actual consequences for science in general. Defending the thesis of relativism had remained unacknowledged by the general scientific community. Biographies of mavericks and their struggle and exclusion from scientific community etc. had been constant in the history of science. Is science nowadays able to accept criticism and implement arguments of knowledge beyond the institutionalized standards? Throughout this article we argue that personal involvement creates biased scientific facts; acknowledging and applying tacit knowledge we move beyond personal involvement and create appropriate interpretations of facts and phenomena under investigation, where we reconsider the construction of facts and personal beliefs, knowing that our fields of expertise are incommensurable.

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Author Biography

Lucija Mulej, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia

Lucija Mulej (PhD) is a fellow researcher at the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (www.zrc-sazu.si). She is working at the Section for the Interdisciplinary Research in Humanities. She is a head of international office specially committed to European projects and politics. Her research interests are sociology and sociology of science, especially the theories of knowledge and creativity. She teaches at the University of Nova Gorica (Science and the media, Social Ecology). Recently she has published a manual “A Way to Brussels or How to Win a European Project in Humanities” together with prof.dr. Oto Luthar and mag. Martin Pogacar.

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