Problems of Intelligibility and Paradigm Instances

Abstract

Gary Gutting’s contribution to this collection serves well as a symbol for the whole, which commemorates the first extended dialogue between epistemologists and sociologists of knowledge for many years. It is clear from the principal papers, by Larry Laudan and David Bloor, that the encounter did not take on the characteristics of an ‘ideal speech situation’ wherein an ‘unconstrained consensus’ could be achieved. Nonetheless it marked something of a watershed. Even the most tentative and cautious interaction represents an advance upon the frozen postures of the preceding period, and raise the possibility of more productive exchanges.