In your essential, recommended and optional readings, you will come across a few common terms. It is important to understand these terms, and it can also certainly be good to apply them to your own writings. Here are a few of these terms:
Ontology/Ontological - refers to the study of being or existence. In simpler terms, it’s about understanding what things are and how they relate to each other.
Epistemic/Epistemological - the theory of knowledge. It deals with questions about what we know, how we know it, and the nature of truth.
Taxonomy - the classification of things according to their natural relationships. It’s a way of organizing and categorizing information.
Structuralism - is a theoretical approach that emphasizes the underlying structures or patterns that shape human thought and behaviour.
Postmodernism - a theoretical perspective that critiques the idea of objective truth and emphasizes the role of language, culture, and power in shaping our understanding of the world.
This is super helpful, especially since these terms come up all the time in readings! I’m really curious about how structuralism and postmodernism might clash when it comes to understanding human behavior. Do you think there’s a way to combine both approaches, or are they too different in how they view the world?
Yes, I think that they can be combined kinda. While structuralism emphasizes underlying structures and patterns, postmodernism challenges universal truths and highlights the role of language and culture. Hybrid approach that combines elements of both can provide a more nuanced understanding of human behaviour, I think that in certain cases, postmodernism may be more relevant to apply, but there may be other cases where structuralism is more suitable.