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Kantian Constructivism

Kantian Constructivism. Kant's agenda–synthetic a priori knowledge Critique of Pure Reason rationalism empiricism. Kant’s Revolution. Copernican revolution: from geocentric to heliocentric universe Kantian revolution: from "knowledge conforms to objects" to "objects conform to knowledge"

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Kantian Constructivism

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  1. Kantian Constructivism • Kant's agenda–synthetic a priori knowledge • Critique of Pure Reason • rationalism • empiricism

  2. Kant’s Revolution • Copernican revolution: from geocentric to heliocentric universe • Kantian revolution: from "knowledge conforms to objects" to "objects conform to knowledge" • Phenomena and noumena • Categories of the mind: space and time

  3. Categories of the Understanding • Sensibility • Understanding • For Kant, categories of the mind structure understanding

  4. What is Reality Like? • Can't know reality because our minds structure our experience of reality • Universal forms and categories govern this structuring • Structuring is a rational process

  5. Relativism • Objectivism • Epistemological relativism • Degrees of relativism

  6. Varieties of Relativism • Subjectivism • Cultural relativism • Quine's "web of belief” • Carlos Castaneda • Historical relativism • Goodman

  7. Existentialism: Kierkegaard • “Truth is subjectivity” • Knowing the truth versus being in the truth • Was Kierkegaard a relativist?

  8. Existentialism: Nieztsche • Radical perspectivism–roots in philology • Romantic primitivism • Will to power

  9. Beyond Good and Evil • Nietzsche asks: • What secretly guides the thinking of the philosopher? • What stands behind all logic? • What is more important than the truth or falsity of a judgment?

  10. Nietzsche and the Death of Absolutes • If there is no objective truth, then it follows that there is no God– “God is dead” • Nietzsche and relativism: living life with a spirit of “experimentalism”

  11. Pragmatism • American contribution to philosophy • Peirce • James • Dewey

  12. Varieties of Pragmatism • Peirce: theory of inquiry applied to science • James: issues of psychology, religion, and morality • Dewey: issues of society and education

  13. The Pragmatic Theory of Meaning • Pragmatism • not a dogma • a method for clarifying conceptions • The pragmatic theory of truth • James: truth in terms of what works or gives satisfaction

  14. Pragmatism and Relativism • Peirce: an antirelativist • James: unclear on the issue of relativism • Dewey: although no free-floating absolutes, belief is not merely a matter of subjective choice

  15. Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth • True ideas are those we can • assimilate • validate • corroborate • verify • False ideas are those we cannot

  16. Feminist Epistemology • What is feminism? • Emphasizes role of gender in shaping thought and structuring society • Focuses on forces excluding women from full participation • Strives to produce society that recognizes men and women as both different and equal

  17. Varieties of Feminism • Equity or liberal feminists • focus on freedom and opportunity • Gender or radical feminists • challenge fundamental structure of society • essentialists and nonessentialists (nominalists)

  18. Issues and Themes • Feminist epistemology critiques four assumptions: • The generic humanity assumption • The view from nowhere assumption • The pure, impersonal reason assumption • The Robinson Crusoe assumption

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