# Radical constructivism

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{{Short description|Position of epistemology}}
'''Radical constructivism''' is an approach to [epistemology](/source/epistemology) that situates [knowledge](/source/knowledge) in terms of knowers' experience. It looks to break with the [conception of knowledge](/source/conception_of_knowledge) as a [correspondence](/source/Correspondence_theory_of_truth) between a knower's understanding of their experience and the world beyond that experience. Adopting a [skeptical](/source/Philosophical_skepticism) position towards correspondence as in principle impossible to verify because one cannot access the world beyond one's experience in order to test the relation, radical constructivists look to redefine epistemology in terms of the viability<ref>Glasersfeld, E. von (1980). Viability and the concept of selection. American Psychologist, 35(11), 970-974. http://www.vonglasersfeld.com/060 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211115104/http://www.vonglasersfeld.com/060 |date=2021-12-11 }}</ref> of knowledge within knowers' experience.<ref name = "EvG 01">Glasersfeld, E. von. (1990). An exposition of constructivism: Why some like it radical. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education Monograph, 4, 19-29. https://doi.org/10.2307/749910</ref><ref name = "EvG 02">Glasersfeld, Ernst von. (1984). An introduction to radical constructivism. In P. Watzlawick (Ed.), The invented reality (pp. 17-40). Norton. http://www.vonglasersfeld.com/070.1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121152454/http://www.vonglasersfeld.com/070.1 |date=2022-01-21 }}</ref> This break from the traditional framing of epistemology differentiates it from "trivial"<ref>Glasersfeld, Ernst von (1991). Knowing without metaphysics: Aspects of the radical constructivist position. In F. Steier (Ed.), Research and reflexivity (pp. 12-29). Sage. Page 17.</ref> forms of [constructivism](/source/Constructivism_(philosophy_of_science)) that emphasise the role of the knower in constructing knowledge while maintaining the traditional perspective of knowledge in terms of correspondence. Radical constructivism has been described as a "post-epistemological" position.<ref name = "EvG 01"/><ref>Noddings, N. (1990). Chapter 1: Constructivism in Mathematics Education. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. Monograph, 4, 7–210. https://doi.org/10.2307/749909</ref>

Radical constructivism was initially formulated by [Ernst von Glasersfeld](/source/Ernst_von_Glasersfeld), who drew on the work of [Jean Piaget](/source/Jean_Piaget), [Giambattista Vico](/source/Giambattista_Vico), and [George Berkeley](/source/George_Berkeley) amongst others.<ref>Glasersfeld E. von (2007) Aspects of constructivism: Vico, Berkeley, Piaget. In: Glasersfeld E. von, Key works in radical constructivism. Sense, Rotterdam: 91–99. Originally published in Italian as: Glasersfeld E. von (1992) Aspetti del costruttivismo: Vico, Berkeley, Piaget. In: Ceruti M. (ed.) Evoluzione e conoscenza. Lubrina, Bergamo: 421–432.</ref><ref>Glasersfeld, Ernst von (1974). Piaget and the radical constructivist epistemology. In C. D. Smock & E. von Glasersfeld (Eds.), Epistemology and education (pp. 1-24). Follow Through Publications.</ref> Radical constructivism is closely related to [second-order cybernetics](/source/second-order_cybernetics),<ref>Glanville, R. (2013). Radical constructivism = second order cybernetics. Cybernetics and Human Knowing, 19(4), 27-42.</ref> and especially the work of [Heinz von Foerster](/source/Heinz_von_Foerster), [Humberto Maturana](/source/Humberto_Maturana), and [Francisco Varela](/source/Francisco_Varela). During the 1980s, [Siegfried J. Schmidt](/source/Siegfried_J._Schmidt) played a leading role in establishing radical constructivism as a paradigm within the German speaking academic world.<ref>Riegler A. (2015) What does the future hold for radical constructivism? In: Raskin J. D., Bridges S. K. & Kahn J. S. (eds.) Studies in meaning 5: Perturbing the status quo in constructivist psychology. [Pace University Press](/source/Pace_University_Press), New York: 64–90.</ref><ref>Müller K. H. (2010) The radical constructivist movement and its network formations. Constructivist Foundations 6(1): 31–39. http://constructivist.info/6/1/031</ref>

Radical constructivism has been influential in educational research<ref>Riegler, A., & Steffe, L. P. (2014). “What Is the Teacher Trying to Teach Students if They Are All Busy Constructing Their Own Private Worlds?”: Introduction to the Special Issue. Constructivist Foundations 9(3), 297-301.</ref><ref>Glasersfeld, E. von (1989). Constructivism in education. In T. Husen & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of education, supplementary volume I (pp. 162-163). Pergamon Press. http://www.vonglasersfeld.com/114 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715152343/http://www.vonglasersfeld.com/114 |date=2022-07-15 }}</ref> and the philosophy of science.<ref>Glanville, R. (2001). An observing science. Foundations of Science, 6(1), 45-75. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1011353225749 </ref>

''[Constructivist Foundations](/source/Constructivist_Foundations)'' is a free online journal publishing peer-reviewed articles on radical constructivism by researchers from multiple domains.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Foerster, H. von, & Poerksen, B. (2002). Understanding systems (K. Leube, Trans.). Kluwer Academic.
* Glanville, R. (2007). The importance of being Ernst. Constructivist Foundations, 2(2/3), 5-6. http://constructivist.info/2/2-3/005.glanville
* Glasersfeld, E. von (1995). Radical constructivism: A way of knowing and learning. Routledge Falmer.
* Glasersfeld, E. von. (1984). An introduction to radical constructivism. In P. Watzlawick (Ed.), The invented reality (pp. 17-40). Norton. http://www.vonglasersfeld.com/070.1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121152454/http://www.vonglasersfeld.com/070.1 |date=2022-01-21 }}
* Glasersfeld, E. von. (1990). An exposition of constructivism: Why some like it radical. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education Monograph, 4, 19-29. https://doi.org/10.2307/749910
* Poerksen, B. (2004). The Certainty of Uncertainty: Dialogues Introducing Constructivism. Ingram Pub Services.

Category:Epistemological theories
Category:Cybernetics
Category:Constructivism

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