perspectivism

n. Developed by William J. McGuire, perspectivism is an epistemological stance that combines pragmatist and postpositivist philosophy of science. It assumes a “tragic theory of knowledge” in which “all knowledge representations are imperfect but all catch some aspect of the known.” Because all knowledge – including scientific knowledge – is conditionally true from some perspective, the task of the researcher is to generate, capture, and critically assess multiple hypotheses creatively by theoretically and empirically identifying their respective domains of applicability. The implication that hypothesis generation and exploration are as important as empirical confrontation led McGuire to the identification of dozens of methodological heuristics and guiding principles for the creative generation and rigorous assessment of hypotheses in psychology and related fields. What results is an expansive search for the enabling and boundary conditions of real phenomena situated in a world of multiple causes, effects, and mechanisms. – CDH, JTJ