Philosophy Engines: Technology And Reading/writing/thinking Philosophy / quote 2 of 5
Epistemic practices in philosophy
In this paper, I wish to consider how some of these technologies are affecting the teaching and learning of philosophy, as integral aspects of what it is to do philosophy, that is, its epistemic practices. By this I mean the means for the achievement of key epistemic goals of an area of enquiry, and the activities necessary for claims to be made and justified within a disciplinary area; what counts as 'playing the game'. Examples ranging from the natural sciences to the humanities are: dissecting, segmenting, relating, measuring, counting, comparing, classifying and categorising, defining, analysing, testing-by means of empirical test or 'thought experiment'; seeking counterexamples and counterfactuals, etc. From a sociological point of view: "An epistemic culture refers to 'those sets of practices, arrangements and mechanisms bound together by necessity, affinity and historical coincidence which, in a given area of professional expertise, make up how we know what we know." (Knorr-Cetina 2007: 363)