A Comparative Analysis of the Epistemological Foundations of Action Research from the Perspective of Critical and Interpretive Philosophy

The main objective of this study is to investigate the epistemological foundations of action research from the perspective of the critical and interpretative philosophy. To this end, the ideas of Stephan Kemis and Wilfered Carr (members of the intelligentsia committee of critical philosophy) and John Dewey and Richard Rorty, (members of interpretive philosophy) were studied. The method used in this research is Comparative analysis. We draw on the pattern of the Polish Z.F. George Beredy, which consists of four steps: description, interpretation, neighboring and comparison. It became clear that the two philosophical approaches emphasize the link between opinion and action in action research, dialectical connection between them and their endeavor on the recovery of the probable gap between opinion and action in action research. The observed differences were related to the relativity of truth from the perspective of interpretive philosophy and the reliance of the critical philosophy of Kanty’s on transcendental wisdom. Another outcome was that the main concern of interpretative philosophy was the increase of efficiency through experience and the main concern of critical philosophy was the teaching of reflexive thought.