Objective Subjective and Intersubjective Selectors of Knowledge.docx
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Objective Subjective and Intersubjective Selectors of Knowledge.docx
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ObjectiveSubjectiveandIntersubjectiveSelectorsofKnowledge
tobepublishedinEvolutionandCognition,1997
Objective,SubjectiveandIntersubjectiveSelectorsofKnowledge
FrancisHEYLIGHEN
PO,FreeUniversityofBrussels,Pleinlaan2,B-1050Brussels,Belgium
E-mail:
fheyligh@vnet3.vub.ac.be
http:
//pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HEYL.html
ABSTRACT.Itisarguedthattheacceptanceofknowledgeinacommunitydependsonseveral,approximatelyindependentselection"criteria".Theobjectivecriteriaaredistinctiveness,invarianceandcontrollability,thesubjectiveonesareindividualutility,coherence,simplicityandnovelty,andtheintersubjectiveonesarepublicity,expressivity,formality,collectiveutility,conformityandauthority.Sciencedemarcatesitselffromotherformsofknowledgebyexplicitlycontrollingfortheobjectivecriteria.
KEYWORDS:
evolutionaryepistemology,selectioncriteria,knowledge,science.
Introduction
ItiswithgreatpleasurethatIusethisopportunitytocommentonDonaldT.Campbell'slastpaper(1997).IcameintocontactwithDon'sworkatthebeginningofmyresearchcareer,in1984,duringaconferenceonevolutionaryepistemologyattheUniversityofGhent.Sincethen,hiswritingshavebeenaconstantsourceofinspiration.Afterwemet,in1990,westartedtoregularlyexchangepublications.EachtimeIreceivedabunchofhispapers,Ibeganreadingthemwithmuchpleasure,becauseIknewthatIwouldfindeveryparagraphteemingwithdeepinsightsandsurprisingobservations.Wefinallydecidedtocollaborate,producinganambitiousreviewpaperabouttheevolutionofsocialsystems(Heylighen&Campbell,1995).Wewereplanningtowritemorepaperstogether,butthathasbeenmadeimpossiblebyhisuntimelydeathin1996.IseethepresentpaperasanopportunitytosomehowcontinuemycollaborationwithDon,addingmyinsightstohisinacollectivepublication.
Asmayhavebecomeobvious,thereisvirtuallynodisagreementbetweenmyphilosophicalpositionandtheoneofDonaldCampbell.Thedifferencesinapproachhavemoretodowiththeoreticalbackgroundandmethodsthanwithaimsorconvictions.WhileCampbell(1974)calledhisphilosophyofknowledge"evolutionaryepistemology",Iwouldcharacterizemineas"evolutionary-cyberneticepistemology"(Heylighen,1993)."Cybernetic"refersheretothebroaddomainofcyberneticsandgeneralsystemstheory(Ashby,1956;vonBertalanffy,1968),anditstransdisciplinarystudyoforganization,communication,controlandmodelling.Thisepistemologyispartofthelargerevolutionary-cyberneticphilosophywhich,togetherwithothers,IamtryingtodevelopinthePrincipiaCyberneticaProject(Joslyn,HeylighenandTurchin,1993;http:
//pespmc1.vub.ac.be/).Comparedwithapurelyevolutionaryapproach,acyberneticepistemologyputsmoreemphasisonthestructureofcognitivesystems,ontheprocessesbywhichtheyareconstructed,onthecontroltheyprovideovertheenvironment,andonthecommunicationofknowledge.Suchacyberneticanalysis,forexample,allowsthereinterpretationofCampbell's(1974)"nestedhierarchyofvicariousselectors"astheresultofaseriesofmetasystemtransitions,producingsubsequentcontrollevels(Heylighen,1995).
TheideasofcyberneticsinspiredmuchofCampbell'swork,asillustratedbyhisrecurringreferencestotheworkofAshby,hislongtimesupportfortheperceptualcontrolapproachofPowers(1973),andhisenthusiasticendorsementofthePrincipiaCyberneticaProject.However,Iguessitwasalackofexpertiseinthemathematicalandcomputationalmodelsofcyberneticswhichkepthimfromusingthe"cybernetics"labelmoreexplicitly.
Differentco-selectorsofknowledge
AlargepartofCampbell's(1997)paper,whichprovidesthefocusofthismemorialissue,isdevotedtoadiscussionofthedifferentselectorswhichtogetherdeterminetheevolutionofknowledge.Themainthrustisthatthereferent,i.e.theexternalobjectwhichtheknowledgeissupposedtorepresent,onlyplaysarelativelysmallpartintheselectionofaparticularideaorbelief.Inspiteofitsideology,scientificknowledgetooistheproductofmultifariousselectiveforces,mostofwhichhavelittletodowithobjectiverepresentationofthereferent.Oftheotherco-selectors,Campbellpaysspecialattentiontothevehiclethroughwhichtheknowledgeisexpressedandtotheneedtomaintainthecommunitywhichcarriestheknowledge.Inadditiontotheseprimarilysocialselectors,hediscussestheselectorsofinterestsandhistoricity,whichfunctionontheindividuallevel.
WhereasCampbellanalysestheseselectorsstructurally,thatis,bythespecificobjectorcomponentresponsiblefortheselection,Iwillheretrytoclassifythemfunctionally,thatis,bytheroletheyplayintheevolutionofknowledge.Theclassofselectorsthatpromotethesametypeofcharacteristicscanbesaidtodetermineaselectioncriterion.ImplicitinCampbell'sexamples,wecanfindthreesuperclasses:
objectivecriteria(selectionforfittotheoutsideobject),subjectivecriteria(selectionforassimilationbytheindividualsubject)andintersubjectivecriteria(selectionforsharingbetweensubjects).Thesesuperclassescanbedividedintomorefine-grainedsubclasses.Theresultingclassificationwillallowustohighlightthedifferencesbetweenscientificallyderivedknowledge,whichsupposedlyprivilegestheobjectivecriteria,andothertypesofknowledgeandbelief,wheresubjectiveandintersubjectivefactorsplayalargerrole.
However,asCampbellemphasizes,itisimpossibletoreallyseparatethedifferentselectors.Allthedifferenttypesofselectorswillaffecttheevolutionofknowledge,scientificorother.Therefore,theoverallprobabilityforabelieftobeselectedwillbeakindofweightedsumofthedegreestowhichitfulfilseachofthecriteria.Forexample,anideathatscoreshighontheobjectivecriteriaandlowonthesubjectiveones,islesslikelytosurviveselectionthananideathatscoreshighonbothcounts.Inthisview,nosinglecriterioncanguaranteeselection,orprovidejustificationforabelief.Wecanonlyusethesimpleheuristicthatthemorecriteriaanideasatisfies,andthehigherthedegreeofsatisfaction,the"fitter"itis,andthemorelikelytowinthecompetitionwithrivalbeliefs(Heylighen,1993).
Insuchaview,thereisingeneralnosingle"best"idea.Anideamayscorehighoncertaincriteria,whileanotherideascoreshighonothercriteria.Suchideasareingeneralincomparable.Theoneislikelytowinthecompetitionincertaincontexts,buttoloseinothers.Thisissimilartothenaturalselectionoforganisms:
sharksarenotmoreorlessfitthanseaweedorthanshrimps.Eachspeciesisadaptedtoitsparticularnichewithinthelargersharedenvironment.However,withinthesharkniche,somesharkdesignswillbefitterthanothers.Inbothorganismsandbeliefs,"beingfitterthan"isapartialorder,notanabsoluteone(Heylighen,1997).Suchaphilosophysynthezisestherelativismofphilosopherswhoemphasizethe"incommensurability"oftheories,withthemoretraditionalbeliefintheobjectivityofscientificprogress.
ObjectiveSelectionCriteria
Since,asCampbell(1997)remindsus,wehavenodirectaccesstothe"DinganSich",wecanonlyuseindirectmeanstodeterminewhetherabeliefcorrespondstoanobjectivereality.LiketheconstructivistcyberneticiansvonFoerster(1981),andMaturana&Varela(1987)note,inthenervoussystemthereisnofundamentaldistinctionbetweenaperceptionandahallucination:
botharemerelypatternsofneuralactivation.However,subjectivelymostpeoplehavenodifficultydistinguishingdreamsorfantasiesfromperceptions.
Tofindoutwhetheraperceptionisreal,youshoulddeterminewhetheritiscausedbyanexternalreferent,orbyaninternalmechanism(e.g.imagination,ormalfunctioningoftheperceptualapparatus).Accordingtoattributiontheory(Kelley,1967),peopleattributecausesofperceivedeffectstothosephenomenathatcovarywiththeeffects.Externalphenomenawillcovarywiththeirexternalcauses,butnotwithchangesthatonlyaffectinternal,subjectivevariables.Thisleadstothefollowingcriteriaforjudgingobjectivityor"reality":
1.Invariance:
phenomenashouldnotdisappearwhenthewayofperceptionischanged.Thelargerthedomainoverwhichitremainsinvariant,themore"real"itwillbe(cf.Bonsack,1977).Kelley(1967)proposesthefollowingmorespecifictypesofinvariance:
a.invarianceovermodalities:
ifthesamephenomenonisperceivedthroughdifferentsenses(e.g.sightandtouch),pointsofview,ormeansofobservation,itismorelikelytoobjectivelyexist.
b.invarianceovertime:
aperceptionthatappearsordisappearssuddenlyisunlikelytobecausedbyastablereferent.
c.invarianceoverpersons:
aperceptiononwhichdifferentobserversagreeismorelikelytoberealthanonethatisonlyperceivedbyasingleindividual.
2.Distinctiveness:
differentreferentsproducedifferentperceptions(Kelley,1967;cf.Campbell,1992).Aperceptionthatremainsthesamewhentheattentionisdirectedelsewhereislikelytobeproducedbytheperceptualsystemitself(e.g.aparticleofdustintheeye).Moreover,"real"perceptionstendtobecharacterizedbyrichnessincontrastanddetail(imaginedordreamperceptionstypicallyarecoarse-grainedandfuzzy)andtoexhibit"Gestaltqualities",suchasregularity,closureandsimplicity,thusproposingadistinct,coherentpattern,ratherthananunstructuredcollectionofimpressions(Stadler&Kruse,1990).Campbell(1966,1997)toonotesthatdetailedpatternincreasestheplausibilityofpercepts.
Extendingthislogico
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