Epistemology – The Conversation

The process of decolonising research methodology is an ethical, ontological and political exercise rather than simply one of approach and ways of producing knowledge.

Athens was deeply polarized over big-picture questions, and Socrates was never hesitant to question both sides’ assumptions – or his own.

Phrases like “knowledge production” conceal the fact that knowledge answers to something beyond itself and beyond us. To produce knowledge is to find out about something.

Astrology and astronomy were once practiced side by side by scientists like Galileo and Kepler. And they’re more similar than you might think.

Two concepts can help explain why society seems increasingly unable to agree on basic facts.

Modern western science must be stripped of the epistemological and methodological privileges it enjoys.

Amos Tutuola has contributed significantly to the resilience of ways of life and worldviews that could easily have disappeared under the weight of colonialism, globalisation and the market economy.

A philosopher unpacks the ‘ethics of belief’ for an age awash in bad information.

Do you actually know how a bicycle or a zipper work, or what a penny or a common brand logo look like? Intellectual humility can help reduce overconfidence in what you don’t understand.

A Steller’s sea eagle, native to the Asian Arctic, has traveled across North America since 2021. A scholar questions whether the bird is lost – and how well humans really understand animals’ actions.

It’s time to (do more than) talk about knowledge. Universities must take leadership in helping develop students capacity to recognise different kinds of knowledge and work flexibly.

There’s never been greater need for the study of what we don’t know, and why we’re not supposed to know it.

The world around you might be an illusion and you’re really a brain in a vat connected to a supercomputer. Sounds preposterous? But can you prove it’s not true?

Dr Joe Gumbula was a master-singer of Manikay, the exquisite Yolŋu tradition of public ceremonial song. While the songs contain incredible knowledge, scholars have rarely treated them as an intellectual tradition.

How do we determine what is fact? An archaeologist explains how the answer has changed over time and why it matters so much now.

Critical thinking is an essential skill students should be encouraged to develop as part of their science learning. NZ’s draft science curriculum fails the test.

If you’re committed to a belief, it’s hard to let go. Psychology and philosophy provide different ways to think about how skeptics respond to counterevidence.