epistemology and soccer practice

Having read a good amount of material about the subject of knowing, I am well aware of the limits of knowledge that have been brought to the fore by those with postmodern inclinations. Without a doubt, some modern thinkers simply assumed too much about the human ability to interpret, to understand, to know. It is thus refreshing to hear the best insights and practical wisdom of postmodernism brought to bear on the subject of knowing.

If you’re at all like me, though, you find yourself in a variety of moods when contemplating these rather high thoughts about thinking. Thus, my reaction to postmodern skepticism can vary, depending on who I’m reading and my current life-situation. While it is imperative, in my view, to lean into and absorb the best features of postmodernism, including a much needed realization of our inability to know anything perfectly and the concomitant need to remain careful and duly humble in our declarations, it is also necessary to remain, if I may borrow a rather modern-sounding word, grounded in our assessments.

Whatever epistemological claims we make, whatever theories we propose, they will be essentially meaningless unless they contribute to the everyday task of living. This means that we must not only make humility a constant endeavor, but we must also be willing to allow the powerful realities of God’s world to make their imprint in our hearts and lives.

Therefore, as I read some radical postmodernist deny our ability to know, I am slackened away from despair by the sheer force of my kid’s need to attend soccer practice at 7:00, my wife’s directive to take out the garbage, my boss’s demand that I show up for work, and the ability of many human beings to convey elements of truth in meaningful and decipherable ways. I am very much cognizant of the human tendency to mislead and misunderstand. I know about the limitations of human language and human beings in general. And I am alert to the fact that our claims of truth, whatever we mean by “truth,” can sometimes be naively constructed opinions that have no universal impact. Still, the real world calls me, and when it calls I get a sense, perhaps a God-given sense, that we do have at least some ability to know, to understand, to share our knowledge, and–with God’s grace–to both comprehend and communicate something that looks like truth.

Clearly, some type of critical realism is essential if we are to make our way in a world that has far too often been governed by overly confident claims of Cartesian certainty. Modernity has for far too long dominated our thinking, blinded us to our own inadequacies, and actually hindered our pursuit of truth. Still, in the desire to learn from these things, it is not necessary that we spend a decade or two going too far in the other direction, only to one day realize that we have exaggerated our limitations and denied the very imprint of God, which equips and enables us to know in the first place.

We are capable, it would seem, of knowing at least some things, at least some of the time, with at least some measure of confidence. My wife and kids, along with a myriad of other factors, remind me of this fact all the time. Perhaps, we are living in some Twilight Zone episode in which we are all part of some other person’s dream. Maybe, we are part of an experiment being carried out by advanced alien life forms. Then again, the better part of wisdom would have us believe, at least for the time being, that these scenarios are not likely. Furthermore, this same wisdom seems to be embedded in the world around us and, as such, compels us to balance the recognition of our situatedness, our local biases, our obvious ignorance, with the fact that the logos (the Word, Jesus) has indeed visited our planet. Through Him, knowing and communication must be possible.