Third excursion

an epistemology of the uncertain

pp. 119-122

in: Timo Maran, Mimicry and meaning, Berlin, Springer, 2017

Abstract

Modern science is generally designed to eliminate uncertainty and ambivalence. There are many theoretical tools and practices in science to distil solid knowledge from the occasional and unpredictable dynamics of the world. Thinking with the aid of theoretical postulates and paradigmatic cores, the requirement for the repeatability of experiments and observations, and conventional use of statistical methods (that restrain minorities and exclude unique entities) are some means that are used to build reliable and solid knowledge in the sciences. Such inclination towards hard data is probably an inevitable aspect of the biological sciences, but it certainly has its cost. Namely, downplaying or ignoring processes that are occasional, unique or uncertain, become problematic in cases where ambivalence and fuzziness are characteristic properties of an object under study.