Monthly Archives: September 2020

Can we have a science of ourselves?

This question is tantamount to asking whether we can possess knowledge of ourselves. That we can to some extent is trivial, despite the endeavor’s hurdles (many of which–ironically–the human study of psychology has revealed).

We have developed such successful sciences of physics and chemistry due perhaps to our advantage over their subject matter. This is that we have at least a greater degree of consciousness than do particles, waves, and elements.

It may be argued that human scientists have a greater consciousness of people than the average person does. If this is so, then the epistemology of social science is on somewhat comparable grounds to that of physics and chemistry.

However, it is quite probable that human scientists are not so different from laypeople as all people are from physical objects. This represents an asymmetry worth pausing on in answering this post’s question.

 

SpongeBob and phenomenology

When SpongeBob tries explaining “fun” to Plankton, he finds that the only way he can is to sing a song about it.

Some experiences are so fundamental for some of us that conveying them to others linguistically can be tricky.

The trick in these cases is to “live out” the experience in question. This lets the other know what it is like, and how they can experience it.

Of course–spelling a concept out and defining it more elaborately can work, too! But the basic experience has to be felt to understand its real nature.