Abstract

MORAES, Maria Célia Marcondes de. Questioning knowledge in the field of education. Perspectiva [online]. 2009, vol.27, n.02, pp.315-346. ISSN 0102-5473.

This paper explores the denunciation that knowledge and science, more particularly human and social sciences, are at risk. It criticizes the context of epistemological scepticism and ontological relativism that strongly affects sciences´ capacity to over come their own antinomies either on an explanatory level or when practically confronted to their own problems. It recalls the sentence “theory does have consequences” and argues that theory can increase the generalized scepticism about knowledge, truth, and justice by making them sound meaningless, thus opening the door to a great measure of irrationalism and nihilism. Yet, the positive side of theory may offer rational and critical bases to unveil the logic of a discourse that, at the same time, affirms education centrality and proposes the pragmatic construction of practice epistemologies in keeping with the emergent paradigms that are references for research, reforms, plans and proposals for Brazilian and Latin-American education. Theoretically, this text is based on Lukács and Bhaskar’s critical realism.

Keywords : Knowledge; Epistemology of Practice; Empiricism; Critical Realism; Ontology.

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