DEBATABILITY OF SOCIAL EPISTEMOLOGY

Abstract

The article is devoted to the deepening of the tendencies of formation of social epistemology. The concept of «social epistemology» has been clarified as one of the new approaches to the analyses of social reality and social factors of human cognition and knowledge. Significant differences are outlined depending on how the «social» is understood in terms of its impact of the processes of obtaining, substantiating and dissemination knowledge, that is, the main components of the cognitive process. A promising research vector for the practical implementation of social epistemology at the level of institutional systems is presented. It is stated that epistemology is social, because it focuses on social practices and institutions and their epistemic influences on the truthvalue beliefs of experts. It is justified that the social is a sphere between experts, which determines the situation of a cognitive agent’s justified acceptance of the statements and ideas of other agents, collective agents, systems, institutions. The purpose of social epistemology is explored as a field of philosophical research, it tends to eliminate imbalances, focusing specifically on social interaction, the social system, and their impact on epistemological issues, in contrast to the tendencies of traditional epistemology, which emphasize the individualistic instead of the social. It has been found important to define the field precisely through this opposition by social epistemologists.