Knowledge of the Past and the Theory-Ladenness of Observation

The relationship between theory and reality in archeology is a classic example that illustrates the significance and diversity of the main problem of philosophy of science. From the epistemological point of view, the problem of the status of archaeological data is one of the examples of the problem of the theory-ladenness of observations within the corresponding naturalistic perspective. Trying to solve the problem of epistemic independence of the data, which corroborates the justification of the statements about the past, Peter Kosso offers a concept of «weighted coherence».
Reflections on the book: Kosso P. Knowing the Past: Philosophical Issues of History and Archaeology. Amherst, New York: Humanity Books, 2001.

Keywords: knowledge of the past, philosophy of archaeology, theory-ladenness of observation, P. Kosso.