At the outset of the second session our course instructor pointed out a couple of important pedagogic principles concerning the nature of one’s engagement with philosophical works. The emphasis was essentially on methods of developing an argument with respect to a concrete case in question. He cautioned us against the importance of arriving at a theoretical position as a result of a tenable heuristic exercise in an a posteriori manner, rather than get swayed by a priori assumptions.
Thereafter the discussion briefly dealt with relativist’s critiques of truth and the question of reflexivity. Apart from a brief elucidation of the concepts, he suggested, as a way out, that what is seminal to the making of any coherent method of identifying truth is to identifying the ‘truth of the relative’. This was a clear allusion to Deleuze’s Difference and Repetition. And, thus this discussion set up the background for discussing the readings.
The discussion thereafter was on select excerpts from C.P. Snow’s The Two Cultures. One of the important points Snow makes is that it is the respective pedagogic practises of both natural sciences and social sciences that bring about the two cultures. Natural scientists and Social scientists get therefore deeply rooted in this culture of relative ignorance of each other. This imposes an already implied limitation on the possibility of integration. The broader approximation we arrived at was that it is important to address the cultural implications of the existing practices of the sciences and to re-examine the role of the ‘pedagogic conveyer’.
Against the background of this material a serious concern was raised regarding the possibility of a unified culture. In response to this question our instructor spoke about the importance of redefining the existing disciplinary relations as well as the importance of rephrasing some of the long standing questions that guide present modes of inquiries.
Thereafter the discussion briefly dealt with relativist’s critiques of truth and the question of reflexivity. Apart from a brief elucidation of the concepts, he suggested, as a way out, that what is seminal to the making of any coherent method of identifying truth is to identifying the ‘truth of the relative’. This was a clear allusion to Deleuze’s Difference and Repetition. And, thus this discussion set up the background for discussing the readings.
The discussion thereafter was on select excerpts from C.P. Snow’s The Two Cultures. One of the important points Snow makes is that it is the respective pedagogic practises of both natural sciences and social sciences that bring about the two cultures. Natural scientists and Social scientists get therefore deeply rooted in this culture of relative ignorance of each other. This imposes an already implied limitation on the possibility of integration. The broader approximation we arrived at was that it is important to address the cultural implications of the existing practices of the sciences and to re-examine the role of the ‘pedagogic conveyer’.
Against the background of this material a serious concern was raised regarding the possibility of a unified culture. In response to this question our instructor spoke about the importance of redefining the existing disciplinary relations as well as the importance of rephrasing some of the long standing questions that guide present modes of inquiries.
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