On "Social Knowing"

Abstract

Although the symposiasts present plausible theoretical positions and occasional ingenious arguments, their contributions can be criticized on several grounds. The) define the field of "social knowing" very narrowly, so that many significant contributions are overlooked. The focus of their papers is on theoretical disputes rather than on real phenomena. Finally, they seem to rely on an essentially passive conception of human nature, in which observation and judgment are taken as fundamental while social activity is rarely mentioned at all.