Toward a systematic epistemology of the Web space

The current project aims to contribute to the conceptual and theoretical foundation of a systematic epistemology of the Web space, by which to remain assimilable as social epistemology while reflecting the specificity of the epistemic medium and sources in discussion and the precise relationship of determination between the two fields from particular to general. In order to attain this aim, the research will adopt a bottom-up approach (reversed from the usual one in epistemology, from abstract to concrete), combined empirical and theoretical: It will pursue a conceptual-observational-categorical analysis of the Web space, focusing on taxonomies, case-studies, examples, epistemic kinds, and conceptual and epistemic structures present in the websites. The main principle is to investigate theoretically the main epistemic unit or product of the Web space, namely the website article or page, in its epistemic, linguistic, informational, structural, and intentional dimensions. The research project will consist of multiple research reports touching on the concepts employed and issues investigated, each report drawing further lines of research. A first goal in this project preceding the other theoretical research is to develop a clear epistemic taxonomy of the websites, based on what research has established as constituting knowledge in the online environment, its criteria of validation, and the means by which and the forms in which knowledge is delivered to the users. During the empirical-observational phase of the project, an ongoing quantitative and qualitative analysis will be conducted across the web, designed to cover, as uniformly as possible, various niches and categories of websites. The analysis aims to identify all forms of knowledge specific to websites and their particular modes of epistemic validation, as well as the relationships between the internet-specific (social-based) and the theoretical epistemic modes of validation.本项目旨在为**网络空间系统认识论（systematic epistemology of the Web space）**的概念与理论基础构建提供支撑，使其可被归入**社会认识论（social epistemology）**范畴，同时体现所讨论的认知媒介（epistemic medium）与认知源（epistemic source）的特殊性，以及两个领域间从特殊到一般的精准决定关系。 为达成上述目标，本研究将采用自下而上的研究路径（区别于认识论领域主流的从抽象到具体的自上而下研究路径），兼顾实证研究与理论研究：将对网络空间开展概念-观察-范畴化分析，重点关注各类网站中的分类体系、案例研究实例、认知类型（epistemic kinds）以及概念与认知结构。 本研究的核心原则是从理论层面探究网络空间的核心认知单元或产物——即网站文章或页面——在认知、语言、信息、结构及意向性维度上的特征。本研究项目将产出多篇围绕所使用概念与研究议题的研究报告，每篇报告均可延伸出后续的研究方向。 相较于其他理论研究，本项目的首要目标是构建一套清晰的网站认知分类体系（epistemic taxonomy），其构建依据为既有研究确立的在线环境中的知识构成要素、知识验证标准，以及知识向用户传递的方式与形式。在本项目的实证观察阶段，研究人员将对全网开展持续的定量与定性分析，力求尽可能均匀地覆盖各类细分领域与类别网站。该分析旨在识别所有网站专属的知识形式及其特定的认知验证模式，同时厘清互联网专属（基于社交）的验证模式与理论认知验证模式之间的关联。