Concepts are dynamically constructed and collectively negotiated meanings that classify the world according to interests and theories.
Four epistemologies can be employed to understand how concepts are formed: empiricism, rationalism, historicism, and pragmatism.
Empiricism - knowledge comes from theory-independent observations
Rationalism - knowledge is acquired by the development of logical structures prior to any experience
Historicism - knowledge comes from theory-laden and culturally based observations
Pragmatism - knowledge forms according to particular goals, values, and consequences
The main argument for using all this in LIS: the potential of simple searching techniques will soon be exhausted, so the future of information retrieval is in the possibility of re-establishing lost contexts that determine the meaning of words. It can be done by developing an understanding of concepts and how they work.
The question is - if there are at least four paradigms for understanding concepts, will we ever achieve this understanding of how concepts work?
Inna, you asked: "The question is - if there are at least four paradigms for understanding concepts, will we ever achieve this understanding of how concepts work? "
ReplyDeleteI cannot understand this question. There are different ways of understanding almost anything. Does that mean that our understanding cannot make progress?
I am the author of the paper you write about. I do not suggest that each of these four paradigms are equal. On the contrary: I try to develop a defence of one of these four: the pragmatic understanding of concepts.
kind regards
Birger
Thanks for you comment. I agree that the paradigms are not equal. I just wondered whether it'd be more fruitful to emphasize the historicity of these paradigms. For me they seem more like a historical progression from empiricism to pragmatism, rather than just four paradigms that are out there. I think co-existence of paradigms is a big theoretical and practical problem in social sciences. It impedes their development in the sense of advancing knowledge and in the sense of coming up with another set of criteria for development and making progress.
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