ABSTRACT
Again and again, throughout this book the discussion has devolved around issues of the conceptualization of the scientific enterprise. It seems appropriate at this point to focus on the central issue, the nature of knowledge and its acquisition. It may come as a surprise to some readers that there is an issue here, or at least one that is taken seriously by anyone except nonpositivistic (and, hence, obviously archaic) philosophers and college freshmen and sophomores. To such readers, it may seem foolish nonsense to spend time on such questions as “What is the nature of knowledge?” when one can be investing that time accumulating knowledge; besides, we know exactly what to do to add to knowledge (observe and experiment) and the operationalists and logical positivists have already solved all of the problems that are not, in their very nature, nonsensical.
