Originating in postmodern interpretations of diverse intellectual disciplines, social constructionism (SC) exerts a profound influence throughout modern psychology (K. J. Gergen, 1985), including such areas as social psychology, psychoanalysis, feminist psychology, family therapy, and the psychology of knowledge. The core of SC is the proposition that humans construct knowledge through social i...

I argue that there is a reliable epistemic route from knowledge of conceptual truths to knowledge of metaphysical necessities. In a first step, I argue that we possess knowledge of conceptual truths since we know what (many of) our terms apply to. I bolster this line of thought with a rebuttal of Williamson’s recent argument against epistemic analyticity. In a second step, I argue that our know...

This essay proposes an alternative to how paradigms are viewed in the information systems (IS) field. Tracing the development of the paradigm concept from Kuhn's classic Structure of Scientific Revolutions to the educational sciences and the organizational sciences, it finds the IS field adopting metaphysical paradigms over sociological and conceptual paradigms to the detriment of the progress ...

As the medical sciences in part of human civilization is developing and humans distancing themselves from other sorts of life, rightfully or not, existence of certain tangible or metaphysical

As the medical sciences in part of human civilization is developing and humans distancing themselves from other sorts of life, rightfully or not, existence of certain tangible or metaphysical

I take issue with Frank Leavitt's sketch of a pragmatic criterion for the relevance of metaphysics to medical ethics. I argue that appeal to the potential for confusion generated by metaphysical subtlety establishes a need for better communication rather than shows philosophical insight beside the point. I demonstrate that the proposed Criterion of Relevance has absurd consequences, and I claim...