THEME 13. Axiology and anthropology philosophy

History Axiology

Axiological issues in communication studies Philosophical Anthropology

Axiology (from Greek ἀξίᾱ, axiā, "value, worth"; and -λόγος, -logos) is the philosophical study of value. It is either the collective term for ethics and aesthetics^[1]—philosophical fields that depend crucially on notions of value—or the foundation for these fields, and thus similar to value theory and meta-ethics. The term was first used by Paul Lapie, in 1902, and Eduard von Hartmann, in 1908.^[3][4]

Axiology studies mainly two kinds of values: ethics and aesthetics. Ethics investigates the concepts of "right" and "good" in individual and social conduct. Aesthetics studies the concepts of "beauty" and "harmony." Formal axiology, the attempt to lay out principles regarding value with mathematical rigor, is exemplified by Robert S. Hartman's Science of Value. Studies of both kinds are found in Cultura: International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology.

Axiological issues in communication studies. Communication theorists seek to contribute to mutual intelligence about the anatomy and operation of human communication. The axiological issues that are significant for the evolution of communication theory are whether research can be truly free of value and whether the end for the administered research should be designed to expand knowledge or to change society. For communication theorists, a primary interest is with the philosophical establishment of the research approach. A continuing value debate occurs between scholars who comply with a conventional scientific approach and those who take an interpretivist approach to communication development.

Those who take a conventional scientific approach believe that research must be free of values in order to be valid. Therefore, it is necessary for the scientist to approach their research in a neutral and objective manner. In contrast, the interpretivists argue that it is impossible for research to be completely free of personal values, as research is always biased towards the values of the researcher. According to interpretivists, these biases are sometimes so entrenched in the researcher's culture that they will most likely go unnoticed during research. Since no one can truly be unbiased, some groups are more knowledgeable about certain things than other groups due to their positions in society, and they can be considered more qualified to perform research on certain topics as a result.

Philosophical anthropology, sometimes called anthropological philosophy, is a discipline dealing with questions of metaphysics and phenomenology of the human person, and interpersonal relationships.