The corporeal paradigm and law as an applied social science

Abstract

The theory of knowledge constitutes the epistemological basis from which all the edifices of human knowledge are constructed and sustained. Therefore, some of the most astute minds in Western philosophy (from Plato to Kant) dedicated a good portion of their best writings to discussing the nature of human knowledge. For centuries, the debate revolved around the assumptions of the mentalist paradigm, in which the human mind, whether translated by the Cartesian Cogito or by the empiricist paradigm, as a Lockean tabula rasa, appeared as the privileged locus of epistemological perfection. However, from the critique made by the complexity paradigm (Morin) and the neuroscience paradigm (Damasio), we have seen the emergence of a new theory of knowledge based on "bodily" assumptions, which allowed the inclusion of other dimensions of knowledge, such as practical sense and aesthetics. The practical application of new forms of knowledge has led us to the notion of the general applicability of science and, consequently, to the role of applied social sciences, including Law, equipped with tools to intervene in social reality.