Causal and Symbolic Understanding in Historical Epistemology.

The term 'historical epistemology' can be read in two different ways: (1) as referring to a program of 'historicizing' epistemology, in the sense of a critique of traditional epistemology's tendency to gloss over historical context, or (2) as a manifesto of 'epistemologizing' history, i.e. as a crit...

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Published in:Erkenntnis Vol. 75; no. 3; pp. 467 - 483
Main Author: Heidelberger, Michael
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature Nov2011
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        au: Heidelberger, Michael
        affil: Universität Tübingen, Bursagasse 1 72070 Tübingen Germany
      su:
        Theory of knowledge
        Cognition
        Science
        History
        Psychology
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          Theory of knowledge
          Cognition
          Science
          History
          Psychology
      ab: The term 'historical epistemology' can be read in two different ways: (1) as referring to a program of 'historicizing' epistemology, in the sense of a critique of traditional epistemology's tendency to gloss over historical context, or (2) as a manifesto of 'epistemologizing' history, i.e. as a critique of radical historicist and relativist approaches. In this paper I will defend a position in this second sense. I show that one can account for the historical development and diversity of science without disavowing the relevance of a (normatively understood) epistemology and without denying the existence of human cognitive universals across historical and cultural differences. In support of my thesis, I draw on cognitive scientific research on causal and symbolic cognition, arguing that causal understanding constitutes a basic part of science, which, in the course of its development, becomes more and more superimposed by a culturally and historically variable symbolic superstructure.
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