ABSTRACT
Philosophies of knowledge often tend to use mathematics and physics as a model of thought. Knowledge in these domains, in contrast with the cultural sciences, is more absolute and more objective in the sense that the temporal and social condition of its emergence had little effect on its content or even form. One is led to the attractive picture of a cumulative progress through different historical periods so that a later period differs from an earlier one by filling certain gaps and correcting certain errors. Moreover, there is the fact that basic conceptual advances are rare, and, even when they do occur, do not make the well established theories obsolete but rather only limit their range of application, Newtonian physics being the favorite example. Hence, it is exceedingly attractive to build one’s philosophy of knowledge on this stable and rich foundation of our knowledge in mathematics and physics.
