ABSTRACT
The author begins this chapter with a view that has dominated epistemology for centuries, explores its roots in the investigations of Socrates and Plato, and then considers some of the significant ways in which it has developed. He examines the relevance of epistemology for education, and concludes the chapter with a critique of constructivism and its influence on contemporary pedagogy and educational research. Teachers do not usually share the epistemologists' concerns about the foundations of knowledge, but there are several reasons why teachers should be concerned with epistemology. Constructivism—;;variously described as a philosophy, an epistemology, a cognitive position, or a pedagogical orientation—;;currently dominates mathematics and science education. Basically, Gerald Goldin and other critics of radical constructivism object to the fact that, on the one hand, radical constructivist's claims to take a postepistemological stance and, on the other hand, continue to make statements that sound epistemological. Postmodern thinkers might raise very different objections to radical constructivism.
