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Until 30 years ago, most sociologists believed that only knowledge in the humanities and social sciences is open to sociological analysis. This is no longer the case: a large number of studies have shown that the knowledge of science and technology also has the character of social institutions. The success of sociologists in understanding the social dimensions of science and technology has led to a relative decline of sociological studies of the humanities in general, philosophy in particular. This anthology seeks to correct that neglect. The authors seek to show that contextual and sociological sensitivity is crucial to an understanding of the very content of philosophical positions and controversies, and for recapturing the contingency in the history of philosophy. Readership: All students of the history of philosophy and sociologists of knowledge

I: Introduction: Language as Calculus vs. Language as the Universal Medium -- 1. Continental and Analytical Philosophy -- 2. The Interpretational Framework -- 3. Some Qualifications and the Main Theses of this Study -- II: Husserl's Phenomenology and Language as Calculus -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Formalism—Threat and Temptation—The Emergence of Language as Calculus in the Early Writings -- 3. Defending the Accessibility of Semantics Against Psychologistic Relativism: The Logical Investigations -- 4. Transcendental Phenomenology and the Calculus Conception -- 5. Summary of Husserl's Notion of Language as Calculus -- III: Heidegger's Ontology and Language as the Universal Medium -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Heidegger as Adherer to the Conception of Language as Calculus in his Early Writings -- 3. The World as a "Closed Whole"—The Period of Being and Time -- 4. "Language is the House of Being"—Language as the Universal Medium in Heidegger's Later "Thought" -- 5. Summary of Heidegger's Conception of Language as the Universal Medium -- IV: Between Scylla and Charybdis—Gadamer's Hermeneutics -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Tradition and the Return of the Subject—Why Heidegger had Reason to Dislike the "Effective-Historical Consciousness" -- 3. Language as Universal Adumbration -- Notes to Part I -- Notes to Part II -- Notes to Part III -- Notes to Part IV -- Index of Names -- Index of Subjects.

One important strand in the contemporary debate over epistemological relativism focuses on the question whether, and to what extent, Wittgenstein in "On Certainty" (1969) leaned towards this position. This paper is a contribution to this strand. My discussion has four parts. I shall begin by out lining my interpretation of Wittgensteinian certainties. Subsequently I shall briefly introduce some central arguments for and against attributing epistemic relativism to "On Certainty". This will be followed by a sketch of the cluster of ideas that–on my analysis–define important versions of the doctrine in question. And finally I shall give my own interpretation of "On Certainty" in relation to epistemic relativism.

"This is the first book to explore the connections and interactions between social epistemology and epistemic relativism. The essays in the volume are organized around three distinct philosophical approaches to this topic: 1) foundational questions concerning deep disagreement, the variability of epistemic norms, and the relationship between relativism and reliabilism; 2) the role of relativistic themes in feminist social epistemology; and 3) the relationship between the sociology of knowledge, philosophy of science, and social epistemology. Recent trends in social epistemology seek to rectify earlier work that conceptualized cognitive achievements primarily on the level of isolated individuals. Relativism insists that epistemic judgements or beliefs are justified or unjustified only relative to systems of standards-there is not neutral way of adjudicating between them. By bringing together these two strands of epistemology, this volume offers unique perspectives on a number of central epistemological questions. Social Epistemology and Relativism will be of interest to researchers working in epistemology, feminist philosophy, and the sociology of knowledge"--