|
  t's
practically the refrain of modern life: "Everything's relative." The
claim that nothing can be known for sure or in common--that truth is
a construct or a fiction--is an idea that contributes to many of our
contemporary discontents, from debates sparked by multiculturalism
to disagreements over the state of the environment. It's also the
idea behind the postmodern doctrines that now hold sway in many
parts of the intellectual and academic worlds. Might it also be
wrong? This special WQ debate takes that question as its
starting point. We begin with an essay by scientist Edward O.
Wilson, the pioneer of sociobiology. Highlighting the argument
of his current book, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, he
sets forth a bold alternative to our current intellectual
relativism: a unifying knowledge that combines all disciplines in a
biologically grounded understanding of ourselves and our world.
Nature itself, says Wilson, has previously limited our ability to
reach this understanding. But now, the new sciences of the mind are
tearing down some of the most confounding obstacles. Philosopher
Richard Rorty, responding to Wilson's proposal, finds that
the need for unified knowledge is unproved. Moreover, he argues that
the current multiplicity of knowledges is a good thing. "As we
pragmatists see it," he writes, "there can and should be thousands
of ways of describing things and people." Biologist Paul
Gross concludes the symposium with a defense of Wilson's
project. He sees consilience as crucial not only to the restoration
of intellectual rigor in the academy but to such larger goals as
social justice. Without the universals provided by good science,
Gross insists, "we would have only the 'idiosyncrasies' of tribes,
including those of whatever tribe you or I happen to belong to."
Here we present the original articles
from our Winter 1998 issue, followed by transcripts from our April
1998 symposium:
by E. O. Wilson
Against Unity
by Richard Rorty
The Icarian Impulse
by Paul R. Gross
Excerpts from the April
symposium |
