The attempts to clarify (purify) the conceptual foundations of family therapy by means of "epistemology" have bred excitement, boredom, irritation and confusion. In the belief that at least the confusion can be alleviated, the present paper is offered as a study guide and something of a Rosetta Stone for translating the work of Gregory Bateson and Humberto R. Maturana. The paper demonstrates th...

Experimental epistemology is the use of the experimental methods of the cognitive sciences to shed light on debates within epistemology, the philosophical study of knowledge and rationally justified belief. A variety of misconceptions about this experimental approach conspire to make it far more controversial than it should be. For example, no experimental philosopher has ever claimed that expe...