The Path to Knowledge :: Philosophy Papers

The Path to Knowledgelate(a) ethnographies suggest that tribal cosmologies address topics of philosophical relevance and offer valuable insights into the nature of perennial philosophical problems. For example, while postmodern and feminist estimation has coped that the proof of knowledge is directly related to political interests, I argue that there are other vantage points not related to much(prenominal) interests that serve as valuable measures for the acceptance of knowledge. Direct empirical verification of the ontological presuppositions that govern the assessment of anthropos in the context sub species aeternitatis empowers an individual to understand his or her role within culture as well. The methodological bounty described in ethnography signals for philosophers to question the categorization of transcendence merely as religious experience. This paper argues that human races may have the competency both to recognize the divine and to give objective descriptions thr ough symbols and spoken communication which allow for the development of methodologies in order to access that knowledge at will. M either postmodern and feminist thinkers place knowledge into the domain of government and power. Such insights allow for the deconstruction of social realities and for postulating democratic principles in pass judgment multicultural philosophies. The recognition of form, however, cannot substitute for content. The educative function of politics reveals weighty insights into the human condition and allows one, for example, to see postmodernity in the context of historical events, such(prenominal) as the resourceful relationship between reason and capitalism, the transition from nourishment law to positive law (cf. Northrop 1960), and the shaping of thought through liberalism and nihilism. An pregnant feature of postmodern thought is its acceptance of multiplicities of viewpoints. By entertaining different claims for truth that originate in diverse methodological and historical origins, postmodernitsts learn to employ creative strategies to solve conceptual disjunctions much like anthropologists mustiness learn to cope with the collapse of their worldviews when going native. Such experiences, however, can be fruitful ground wherein new scientific methodologies might have a dislodge to blossom.A recent study on tribal epistemologies (Wautischer 1998) demonstrates a subject of understanding that stands outside the methodological scope of naturalistic observation. The exploration of human consciousness beyond linguistic thought will caution any philosopher to claim that behavior and intelligence can be understood by referring to deterministic principles. In this context, philosophical discourse continues to fulfill a racy role in educating humanity. It is misleading to assume that philosophical inquiry is in the first place a political enterprise. Rather, a philosophical sense of wonder gives care for and respect to dive rsity, gives empathy for other human beings, and concern for other life forms.