Scrutinizing Thing Knowledge

Sebastian Kletzl

Publications: Contribution to journalShort communicationPeer Reviewed

Abstract

In his book Thing Knowledge Davis Baird argues that our accustomed understanding of knowledge as justified true beliefs is not enough to understand progress in science and technology. To be more accurate he argues that scientific instruments are to be seen as a form of "objective knowledge" in the sense of Karl Popper.I want to examine if this idea is plausible. In a first step I want to show that this proposal implies that nearly all man-made artifacts are materialized objective knowledge. I argue that this radical change in our concept of knowledge demands strong reasons and that Baird does not give them. I take a look at the strongest strand of arguments of Baird's book-the arguments from cognitive autonomy-and conclude that they do not suffice to make Baird's view of scientific instruments tenable.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)118-123
Number of pages6
JournalStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A
Volume47
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2014

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 603102 Epistemology
  • 603124 Theory of science

Keywords

  • Epistemic instruments
  • Objective knowledge
  • Popper
  • Thing knowledge

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