Epistemology of Everyday Life

Basic and developed notions and concepts of theory and philosophy of science. Explanation of concepts like episteme, techne and scientia as well as theory and method, induction, deduction. Scientific data and scientific claim. Scientism, positivism, inductivism, neopositivism, falzificationism. Scientific paradigm and revolution. Epistemological anarchism. Structural theory of science. Analytical philosophy and pragmatism. Basic approaches in science and scholarship: hypothetical-deductive, hermeneutic approaches and critical theory. A short overview of anthropological theories until the 2nd half of the 20th century (evolutionism, diffusionism, historicism, functionalism, structuralism). Post-structuralism and postmodernism in anthropology. Particularism and universalism. Comparative methodology. Deep structure, system theory and game theory. Contemporary life, challenges and traps in studies of contemporary life. Complexity of symbolic order and cultural institutions. Textual analysis. Qualitative and quantitative methodology. Responsibility of students of ways of life (professional ethics). Study materials, presented and discussed at seminar, are each year supplemented with new disciplinary achievements, based on reading of current periodical and monograph publications, as well as Internet sources.
A very important part of the course is accentuated use of information technology with qualitative and quantitative studies of social systems.