In this paper the author developes an account of the issues of post-modernism. This account is then used to discuss the difference between the concept of philosophy as knowledge or as "Weltanschauung". The author offers a critique of the post-modern philosophy and argues that, post-modernism does not distinguish epistemology from social ethics topics. All topisc are considered in relation to the situation of philosophy in Slovakia.

The paper examines the nature of the social fact in social knowledge on the background of the differences between sciences and social sciences. The approach applied is historical , as well as one based on differentiating between Humean conception of fact and the conceptions, in which facts are seen as determining the truth values of our propositions. Underlined are the intentionality and structure of social facts in terms of Searle’s construction of the social as well as the weakness of his (...) conception. In conclusion it is asserted that the construction of facts in social sciences is impossible without psychological vocabulary and concepts, whose contents are conceived – contrary to Searle’s internalism – in terms of externalism. (shrink)

The paper deals with the historical and systematic aspects of psychologism. The historical aspect is examined on the background of the rise of psychology as an independent science. The systematic-analytical aspect, on the other hand, is seen as connected with normativity and the empirical contingency of facts. These issues are analyzed with regard to the so called Psychologismusstreit in German post-Kantian philosophy. The comeback of psychology is rendered as related to the project of naturalized epistemology. The paper also points out (...) to the challenges, which philosophy faces due to the claims of cognitivism. (shrink)

On the background of the status of social sciences and the fragmentarization of social knowledge the paper explains interpretivism as an explanatory method characteristic of social sciences. While describing the nature of interpretivism it underlines the inspiring contribution of analytical philosophy of language: the communication theory of meaning, Davidsonian and Quinean reflections on interpretation. The author argues, that the interpretive approach to social facts together with the concept of action embody a potential, which could be effective in overcoming the epistemological (...) and methodological splitting in social knowledge. (shrink)

The paper draws on Sperber's thesis, according to which the social and historical sciences are a free alliance of various research programs with various objectives. One of the most expanded of these programs is interpretativism. Although the author acknowledges various interpretative approaches , she focuses solely on the contextual interpretation. She defines it in the light of the difference between the thick and thin descriptions , analyzes the conditions and the chracteristics of the interpretation . The attention is paid also (...) to the consequences of Davidson´s radical interpretation for the interpretativism as well as to his conception, according to which reasons are not only causes, but also explanatory of what people do. Although the author sees the interpretation as an effective method in social and historical knowledge, its validity, its evidence and its intersubjective objectivity still remain open to questioning. (shrink)