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(2004) Knowledge and the world, Dordrecht, Springer.
Based on the concept of self-organisation and using results from neurobiology an attempt is made to show the mechanism of the social construction of knowledge: the reduction of uncertainties as to which statements about the world would always be confronted with. This uncertainty management has a technical as well as a social dimension. Within the technical dimension it is mainly the progress of measurement technology. Within the social dimension it is the emergence of social rules for the evaluation of theoretical progress. These rules are not given in advance, they emerge during the process of knowledge production. They are triggered but not determined by reality. Therefore, scientific knowledge has always a strong relationship with reality. But whether scientific knowledge ultimately constitutes a "true" description of nature is and will remain a moot question, at least if one assumes a certain degree of complexity in nature. For the rules of scientificity determine the quality of knowledge but not all features of nature. In view of the assumed complexity, some of them will always remain obscure.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-662-08129-7_7
Full citation:
Küppers, G. (2004)., True is what is considered true: what is considered true is true, in M. Carrier, J. Roggenhofer, G. Küppers & P. Blanchard (eds.), Knowledge and the world, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 163-170.
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