The Perspectival Nature of Knowledge Exploring Different Accounts of the Theory of Perspectivism
Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Advisor
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Haverford College. Department of Philosophy
Type
Thesis
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
eng
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Open Access
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
Perspectivism of knowledge, in conjunction with common epistemic assumptions, entails that perspectives are an inherently distortionary force in the knowledge relation. Often reduced to the thought that “there are no facts, only interpretations,” perspectivism can seem to lead to a skeptical or relativist theory of truth and knowledge. When interpreted as an extension of the Kantian notion of the thing-in-itself and the Correspondence Theory of Truth, it is assumed that a view from nowhere, or a non-perspectival knowledge, would be preferable. This thesis explores the basis of these different assumptions about knowledge, and the aspects of perspectivism that make them untenable. Different versions of perspectivism arises in the works of Arthur Danto, Alexander Nehamas, and Maudemarie Clark, who each argue for a characterization of the theory which in various ways misconstrue the role of the cognitive perspective in knowledge. Perspective always impels access to knowledge, and sometimes impedes it – knowledge originates from an approach to the world which is always taken through a perspective. In some cases, the perspective adopted can confuse our understanding, but that understanding is always made initially possible by the perspective. Rather than making knowledge meaningless through distorting the interpretations made by cognizing subjects, perspectives enable the cognitive relation to occur, and has a structural role in the relation between a cognizing subject and objects of their cognition.