The epistemological ideas of Francisco Fernández Buey as a basis for the third culture

Abstract

This article presents the epistemological reflections of the philosopher Francisco Fernández Buey (1943-2012), which have been continuously present in the author's work at least since the publication in 1991 of La ilusión del método, and culminate in his posthumous work Para la tercera cultura (2013) in a commitment to the complementarity between positive sciences and humanistic reflection. Starting from a heterodox Marxism both in the ethical-political plane and in the epistemological plane, FernándezBuey bets on an idea of science far from positivism, while criticizing the philosophies contrary to it to the extent that they consider it as a knowledge merely reducer of a reality that cannot be apprehended by science. From the concept of dialectics of Manuel Sacristán to the recognition of the figure of Einstein as an example of a scientist who does not renounce other ways of knowing, and the reflection on the philosophy of science in the second half of the 20th century, the author shows us the need for a dialogue between cultivators of science and the humanities to face the challenges of the 21st century.