Fear of Knowledge


Have been reading Paul Boghossian's Fear of Knowledge, a compelling and intelligent refutation of Social Constructivism. I regard myself as a social constructivist within my own domain of work, as many of the micro-organizational phenomena which I am interested in would seem to be epistemologically relative. Who would have the guts to argue that he/she knows what the culture of Organization X is, for instance. Joanna Martin, in her classic text Cultures in Organizations, shows how you can give multiple readings of the culture of a single firm, none of which is non-contestable.

Boghossian, originally physics major, who used to sit in Rorty's seminar, makes a powerful argument which is a pleasure to read.
Looking forward to making a counter argument. By the way, Boghossian has also written an illuminative essay on the Sokal controversy in the Times Literary Supplement, which can be accessed here.