Earlier in this blog, there was a post on the concept of latency. This concept helps us further understand an approach to knowledge that transcends foundationalism and relativism.
If one considers the biological development of any organism – embryo to fetus to human, flowering of a plant, transformation of a caterpillar to butterfly, etc – one sees that the end condition was present in the beginning. In fact, this process is teleological – meaning, that it has a purpose. The purpose of a seed is to develop into a tree. However, the tree itself is not within the seed; it is potentially present therein.
Using this analogy, one can understand that foundational truths were once latent within existence and have become manifest over time. Some truths are latent relative to human agency, and some truths are latent independent of human agency. For instance, the laws of physics manifest themselves in the universe (fairly quickly after its creation according to popular science) completely independent of human will. On the other hand, the equality of women and men is a foundational truth of reality, though is still being developed and brought to fruition over time through human effort.
Thus, there is another layer to reconciling this tension. Some objective truths are relatively latent, and they become manifest truths through time or through human agency. In the latter case, they are indeed socially-constructed, but they are still foundational truths of reality – both relative and objective.
achieving coherence 