The Weight of Language and Action: Epistemic Stance, Methodological Action, and Theoretical Perspective in Knowledge Organization

Abstract

In this paper, I explore two weights of language and action that bear down on KO researchers. I first summarize what extant literature says about the knowledge claims we make with regard to KO practices and systems. I then contrast this with what we do not know, that is, what the unanswered questions might be, and I discuss them in relation to the two weights in our field of KO. I close with a discussion of the ethical imperative of KO given its weights, epistemologies, theories, and methods. To do this, I review a sample of relevant work on deontology in both western and eastern philosophical schools.