TY - JOUR
T1 - The ‘Nature of Science’ and the Perils of Epistemic Relativism
AU - Romero-Maltrana, Diego
AU - Benitez, Federico
AU - Vera, Francisco
AU - Rivera, Rodrigo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - There is an increasing demand in the field of science education for the incorporation of philosophical and sociological aspects that are related to the scientific enterprise in school curricula, to the extent that the incorporation of these aspects is now considered a necessity. Several of these aspects can be categorised within the framework of the nature of science, or NOS. We warn that a possible misinterpretation of the common view of NOS tenets can lead to epistemic relativism. We pay special attention to the empirical and objective nature of science because these important features, properly understood, can help eliminate subjective flaws and protect against relativism. Some of the epistemological concepts that are relevant to this discussion are disambiguated in an attempt to prevent the temptation to take views to an extreme, as has occurred in some cases. We expect this analysis to contribute to the extant literature by improving how science is presented in the classroom without oversimplifying scientific practice.
AB - There is an increasing demand in the field of science education for the incorporation of philosophical and sociological aspects that are related to the scientific enterprise in school curricula, to the extent that the incorporation of these aspects is now considered a necessity. Several of these aspects can be categorised within the framework of the nature of science, or NOS. We warn that a possible misinterpretation of the common view of NOS tenets can lead to epistemic relativism. We pay special attention to the empirical and objective nature of science because these important features, properly understood, can help eliminate subjective flaws and protect against relativism. Some of the epistemological concepts that are relevant to this discussion are disambiguated in an attempt to prevent the temptation to take views to an extreme, as has occurred in some cases. We expect this analysis to contribute to the extant literature by improving how science is presented in the classroom without oversimplifying scientific practice.
KW - Empirical nature of science
KW - Epistemic relativism
KW - Epistemology
KW - Nature of science
KW - Objective nature of science
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85034245815&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11165-017-9673-8
DO - 10.1007/s11165-017-9673-8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85034245815
SN - 0157-244X
VL - 49
SP - 1735
EP - 1757
JO - Research in Science Education
JF - Research in Science Education
IS - 6
ER -