Knowing ways/ways of knowing: Reconciling science and tradition

Abstract

The '"facts" that enter our knowledge are already viewed in a certain way and are, therefore, essentially ideational' (Feyerabend 1988: 11). In recognizing this we come to understand that there has arisen for traditional peoples what has been called, in a parallel context of the analysis of postmodernism in Western society, a 'crisis of narratives' (Lyotard 1987: 73). Why this is the case can be examined through a discussion of two ways of knowing: the traditional and the scientific. The paper begins with a discussion of some concepts as proposed by Lyotard (1987), continues with various basic distinctions between traditional and scientific ways of knowing, and then concludes by suggesting their compatibility and utility for the development of a wider perspective in both anthropology and archaeology.