The epistemology of practical knowledge

Abstract

The relation between practical and theoretical knowledge, which is usually perceived as one of the motors of scientific development in the early modern period, is redefined here as the relation between different structures of knowledge, where the qualitative difference between the different structures is specified according to the degree of abstraction and the range of connections between the different fields of knowledge. The investigation begins by identifying practical knowledge and the continuous process of its reorganization into new structures. In this way, the research aims to understand how the transfer of practical activities transitioned to a circulation of practical literature and, finally, how codified practical knowledge became part of the theoretical and conceptual structures that were being established during the early modern period. As an introduction to the entire volume, a heuristic diversification of knowledge production mechanisms is defined on three levels: (1) the knowledge structure of practical activities; (2) the social structuring of practical knowledge; and (3) the conceptual structures of knowledge. The subsequent chapters are discussed and introduced according to these definitions.