The Role of Technologies in Undermining the Perennial Philosophy

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the impact technological innovation has on key concepts employed in developing an adequate epistemology. In particular, I look at the impact of three technologies of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, the theory and techniques of perspective the telescope, and the microscope, on our concept of observation. It is argued that the concept of a scientific observation is fundamental to a robust empiricist/pragmatist epistemology. A scientific observation differs from ordinary seeing by employing technologies that may or may not have a role in the ordinary world of common sense. It is further argued that these refinements take place over an extended period of time and thus require a bigger timeframe than is usually meant when people talk about technological and scientific change taking place in context. The notion of context is hopelessly confused and in its place I propose the concept of a problematic. A problematic is an historical phenomenon that covers the period of time it takes for new technologies to become embedded in social practices. The importance of seeing how technological innovations become standardized and accepted and produce new ways of developing knowledge undergirds the final idea introduced here: philosophical concepts and questions change over time; there are no perennial questions and answers, only constant change.