Epistomology

Abstract

[Extract] It is Not a word that is seen very often these days. Yet it was probably one of the most common preoccupations for family therapists for many years. But in me last decade or so we seem to have solidified our certainties. Of course, there are the postmodern perspectives which continue to maintain the relativistic stance in rdation to knowledge though these positions seem very much in the minority. So, we come back to the word epistemology. I can remember in the 80s feeling that it was a much overused word. Bandied about by every wo/man and their dog to such an extent that the idl."a expressed was reduced simply to mean 'point of view'. As in, 'we all have our own epistemologies'. How then to introduce the idea that it is: perhaps time again to talk of epistemology? Not the epistemology of points of view but the idea that how we come to know things, the rules that are accorded legitimacy for knowing, the politics of knowing, are current and significant factors in our current lives.