Toward a new stage for the epistemology of futures studies: Exploring social epistemology

Abstract

This article aims to enhance the epistemology of futures studies by utilizing the perspective of social epistemology. Its objective is to address epistemological questions in futures studies, including the nature, sources, means of acquisition, and justification of futures knowledge. It argues that by establishing a robust scientific community, futures studies can be defended as a science within the framework of social epistemology. The social construction and institutional structure of epistemological sources for futures knowledge are as crucial as the evidence itself, and it is necessary to pay more attention to testimony as one of the sources of futures knowledge. Futures studies requires reliable knowledge production processes to acquire and justify futures knowledge.