Making Sense of Knowledge: A Constructivist Viewpoint

摘要

Under the influence of Enlightenment epistemologicalrnthought, the social sciences have exhibited a distinctrntendency to prefer deterministic explanations of socialrnphenomena. In so doing, social scientists of thern‘foundational’ school have sought objective knowledge ofrnsocial phenomena by eliminating the subjective intrusionsrnof concerned actors (Hekman, 1986)1. However, asrnBruner (1990; p. 118) points out “…there are no causesrnto be grasped with certainty where the act of meaning isrnconcerned.” It is clear that ‘foundationalist’ views ofrnknowledge have come to dominate the informationrnsystems (IS) field in that they influence extantrnperspectives on knowledge management and on thernposited role of IT in creating, capturing, and diffusingrnknowledge in social and organisational contexts. In orderrnto address what many would consider to be a deficiencyrnin such thinking, this paper offers an ‘antifoundationalist’rnperspective that considers knowledge as beingrnsimultaneously ‘situated’ and ‘distributed’ and whichrnrecognizes its role shaping social action within ‘contextsrnof practice’. Insights drawn from this short essay arernaddressed to academics and practitioners in the IS field inrnorder to illustrate the considerable difficulties inherent inrnrepresenting individual knowledge and of the viability ofrnisolating, capturing and managing knowledge inrnorganisational contexts.