Abstract

It requires objectivity to acquire scientific knowledge of facts, it requires Sachlich¬keit or a feeling for the mechanism to acquire technical knowledge of how things work together in a system or device. Each of these epistemic ideals is normatively charged but only the notion of scientific objectivity considers knowledge production as a historical process. And while scientific objectivity served as an ideal for communicative rationality in an open and democratic society, Sachlichkeit underwrites the search for innovative solutions in contemporary knowledge societies. This article draws on the work of Alexander Kluge and Ludwig Wittgenstein to delineate the normative dimensions and claim to validity of Sachlichkeit.