Constructivism and Practice: Toward a Historical Epistemology

Over the past several decades, philosophers have grown to recognize the role played by frameworks and models in the construction of human knowledge. Those looking into this are also paying increasing attention to the origins of knowing processes in social and historical contexts of human practical activities, and to social transformation of the frameworks over time. Constructivism and Practice advances the understanding of the role of construction and model creation and reflects on the relationship of these models to social practices. In a series of original essays by prominent philosophers, Constructivism and Practice asks whether our modes of knowing themselves have a history, and what is the significance of the historical epistemology first developed by Marx Wartofsky. For this task, editor Carol Gould has brought together contributions from Joseph Margolis, Tom Rockmore, Lisa Dolling, Jaakko Hintikka, Anton Alterman, Stephen Toulmin, Michel Paty, John Stachel, Gregg Horowitz, Michael Kelly, Tom Huhn, Barbara Savedoff, Saul Fisher, Sybil Schwarzenbach, John Pittman, Raphael Sassower and Mary Ann Cutter.