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PHD-DESIGN  January 2017

PHD-DESIGN January 2017

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Subject:

Knowledge can not be objective

From:

Keith Russell <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Sun, 29 Jan 2017 23:24:21 +0000

Content-Type:

text/plain

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Parts/Attachments

text/plain (236 lines)

Dear All,

What does it mean to say: "knowledge cannot be objective˛?

The original context will help us see what is being argued here:

"Disciplined by demanding for 'objective' and 'rational' argumentation.
What
is the problem in this you ask? Well, by now it is fairly established that
knowledge cannot be objective, even in the sciences. It cannot be removed
and isolated from the politics of its situated production. An individual
experiences cannot be undermined by generalized common-sense. By not
acknowledging and listening to the individual, situated experiences, and
demanding objectivity, you are imposing the hegemony of sciences, as if you
are stuck in the 60-80s.˛

From this argument I can deduce that all knowledge is situated. The end of
the paragraph provides the time-line that such an ignorant position
(knowledge can be separate from a knower) was operating in the 60-80s but
it has since been overthrown.

According to Plato, Socrates was so adamant that knowledge needed a knower
and that coming to knowledge needed a situation that required some kind of
see-er/show-er (teacher) and a student, that he refused to write his ideas
down in case some people misunderstood the ideas.

Were the ancient Greeks ignorant of the flow-on consequences of this
Socratic argument? After killing Socrates, did they just simply generalise
common-sense and get on with the business of selling stuff in the market
place?

Yes, and no. What Plato did was hypothesise that 1+1 equals 2 in all
circumstances - he called this kind of hypothesised knowledge Maths = true
knowledge. Why? Because it could always be re-derived by anyone who wished
to situate themselves before the propositions - such is the case of the
slave in the Meno dialogue. What we see in this dialogue is the situation
of coming to knowledge.

The fact that the slave never really comes by the knowledge in the
dialogue is also an illustration of the point raised by Naveen, that the
generalised common-sense of the situation does not directly transfer to
all people equally -the slave suffers no enlightenment and hence, he has
common-sense imposed on him and his individual experience is undermined.
The slave is possibly the first sufferer of the oppression of minorities
by communities of knowledge. Perhaps, off-stage, after the dialogue, he
could be seen pulling his hair out in distraction because he felt like he
had been tricked and made a fool of. He should have asked for further
instruction until such time as he too saw the solution of how to double
the area of a square. As a slave, he couldnąt do that, so he either railed
against his oppressors, discovered his own knowledge (which he could well
do and many a person has done) or just got on with his chores.

Such knowledge (like how to strain a fence) becomes an object, just as
things in the market place are objects. I might sell bird poo as a THING
in the Agora in Athens if I can SHOW that bird poo has certain OBJECTIVELY
provable benefits to market gardeners. From this process of showing we
arrive at THINGS IN THE MARKET PLACE otherwise known as CATEGORIES. Think
iPhones and toilet brushes.

To anyone who has not situated this knowledge through first hand
experience about bird poo, they might challenge my mere marketing
assertions, and demand a 30 day money back warranty after which they will
happily recommend my poo on Twitter and Facebook. Then we will have a
global trade in bird poo.

Of course, the gardener who finds in their situation that too much bird
poo is not good can start her own stall in the Agora and sell modified
bird poo or indeed, instructions about how to use bird poo more
effectively. The Romans spent quite a bit of time refining the use of
various fertilisers. That marks the beginnings of a science of agriculture.

There is a tragic irony in all of this. To situate myself as a student I
must first submit to the situation of learning. This, by cultural
implication means that I am not the holder of the knowledge but rather I
am the seeker of the knowledge. The slave can not do this. It was rich
young men in Athens who went to be educated by the Sophists, not slaves,
not women. How do I situate myself in a learning situation if my identity
as a student is already in question?

In our current educational environments, the cultures of discourse are
contested. The following compliant is illustrative of one consequence of
this contesting:

"Disciplined by demanding knowledge labor. Don't know what I mean by
knowledge labor? It is a typical trait by the oppressor. When an oppressed
person mentions an oppression, the oppressor demands knowledge (usually of
the objective rational kind) that will term / define their actions as being
oppressive. Another form of this phenomenon is also seen when the oppressor
demands to be educated in knowledge presented by the oppressed, without
taking the efforts to be educated.˛

What we have here is a failure to communicate (Cool Hand Luke reference -
which is an example of what I am taking about - those that know the
reference might smile, those who donąt can feel left out - even oppressed
- by the cultural references of an oppressor). The mere fact that I can
circumscribe this quote with a throw-away line is an example of
oppression. The question then becomes, what is the function of oppression
within learning discourses?

In tutorials, when the tutor challenges a student, are they oppressing the
student or providing the opportunity for the student to bring their
(student) knowledge to light? That is, to make explicit the implicit and
to then search for the meta-knowledge that might be revealed. Academic
discourses are NOT about summary knowledge being exchanged for summary
knowledge like coins for pumpkins. The PhD candidate may suffer many years
of this indignity (if that is how they see this). On graduating, they may
even presume that they will never have to experience such indignity again.
They now have a Boy Scout badge that says they are an expert.

Given that we have agreed in all of this (I am now speaking like a tutor)
that all knowledge is situated and all knowledge requires a knower, why
would a student presume that when a tutor asks the student that the
student educate the tutor (like in a Socratic dialogue), that the tutor
doesnąt know the source and structure of the knowledge the student is
referencing? In fact, as a student, one might be wise to presume the tutor
not only knows the source materials but possibly knows them exhaustively
and in ways the student does not. That is, the job of the tutor is to
always educate. How happy is the student when the tutor announces INDEED!.

But this discourse is, historically, an aristocratic male discourse. It is
premised on the need to sit before the master. Not because the master is
THE MASTER but because knowledge has been found to be made available in
dialogue. Writing is an internalising of such dialogue. I am currently, in
this writing, talking with many a member of this list, in my head, as well
as thousands of students and fellow academics over 50 years of thought.
There is no ultimate stopping point in this dialogic process. Go ask
Socrates! If you donąt like the experience of finding your knowledge
lacking, in front of your peers, get out of the knowledge game.

Can it feel disconcerting to come to knowledge this way? Yes! Could it be
done in other ways? You are the learner, make your own mind up about the
situations in which you learn. Of course, you can go into the wilderness
and work this out for yourself. The dangers in the bush approach are real.

Should the PhD Design list offer opportunities for knowledge to emerge in
a Socratic/Platonic way rather than be merely asserted? Thatąs up to the
users.


Happy Year of the Rooster


keith











On 29/1/17, 2:21 pm, "PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD
studies and related research in Design on behalf of Naveen Bagalkot"
<[log in to unmask] on behalf of [log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Hello listers,
>Its time for me to say goodbye from this list.
>The space has become toxic, noxious, and the last straw has broken for me.
>But before I hit the unsubscribe button, I will briefly outline why I am
>leaving.
>A pattern has emerged and is fixed. A pattern where any young/female/PoC
>dissenting voice is disciplined by usually old/white/male voices.
>Disciplined by terming the dissenting voices as rabble rousing, badly
>behaved, (uncouth?).
>Disciplined by demanding for 'objective' and 'rational' argumentation.
>What
>is the problem in this you ask? Well, by now it is fairly established that
>knowledge cannot be objective, even in the sciences. It cannot be removed
>and isolated from the politics of its situated production. An individual
>experiences cannot be undermined by generalized common-sense. By not
>acknowledging and listening to the individual, situated experiences, and
>demanding objectivity, you are imposing the hegemony of sciences, as if
>you
>are stuck in the 60-80s.
>Disciplined by talking down to only the dissenting voices, but not to
>others, mostly because a) they are senior, b) they are your friends, or c)
>you are scared of the implications.
>Disciplined by demanding knowledge labor. Don't know what I mean by
>knowledge labor? It is a typical trait by the oppressor. When an oppressed
>person mentions an oppression, the oppressor demands knowledge (usually of
>the objective rational kind) that will term / define their actions as
>being
>oppressive. Another form of this phenomenon is also seen when the
>oppressor
>demands to be educated in knowledge presented by the oppressed, without
>taking the efforts to be educated. Case in point: When Teena raised the
>issue of gender, the male profs / researchers demanded her to establish
>the
>connection between gender and design research. So that the discussion can
>be edible to them. If as researchers, researching the present and emerging
>relations between objects and things and people you do not understand the
>role of gender, then please go and do your homework before demanding from
>a
>woman to take time off her day work to summarize to you in couple of
>paragraphs how gender is related to design and design research. You know,
>after all it is not just we males who have day work to do!
>These and other modes of disciplining are acts of colonizing.
>If you do not see that as that, then you are blinded. By your privileges
>along the race, gender, geographical power axes. When the debate around
>decolonizing design turned ugly sometime last year, I among others had
>urged the members on this list to recognize our own privileges along these
>axes, and be aware and sensitive (and empathize) by assuming that the
>others on this list (particularly the dissenting ones) do not have these
>privileges, and hence attune and attend to the difference in experience.
>By
>not doing so, you the founders and / or gate-keepers of this list, are
>colonizing.
>And silencing. You wonder why the younger folks on this list do not
>discuss
>and debate. Well, here is the answer: You colonize by your acts of
>disciplining. The 'violent' outbursts you see here, and more on the social
>media are nothing but the acts to reclaim a space for hearing. The
>violence
>is not against you, but against your actions, which you seem not to
>acknowledge.
>If I have to continue on this list, I cannot remain silent, and I will
>have
>to call-out each and every instance of colonizing, and that's just too
>much
>of time and effort off my day work.
>
>So, goodbye and thanks for all the fish!
>
>Naveen
>


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