Scientific Consciousness: Toward an Integrative Epistemology Beyond Positivism in Balinese Hindu Thought

Ida Bagus Gde Yudha Triguna; I Putu Suweka Oka Sugiharta; I Putu Aryawan

Authors

Ida Bagus Gde Yudha Triguna Universitas Hindu Indonesia
I Putu Suweka Oka Sugiharta Universitas Hindu Negeri I Gusti Bagus Sugriwa Denpasar
I Putu Aryawan Universitas Hindu Indonesia

Keywords:

affective knowledge, Balinese Hindu epistemology, critique of positivism, integrative epistemology, local knowledge, scientific consciousness

Abstract

The positivism prevailing in science has structured a production of knowledge based on the grounds of empirical observation, objectivity, and methodological rigor. Though this paradigm has advanced a lot of the sciences, it has also created a reductionist bias against crucial elements of feeling, meaning, and ethics about human experience. This article will be an open examination of the inadequacies of positivistic epistemology and a proposal for the notion of integrative consciousness as representative of scientific consciousness. This is a qualitative, interpretive, and reflective study based on hermeneutics and critical epistemology. Analysis (Triguna 2026) draws from a synthesis of literature on the philosophy of science, phenomenology, interpretive social theory and epistemology of local knowledge and emphasizes on the symbolic, experiential and contextual factors of knowledge formation. The results suggest that knowledge is not reductive to empirical confirmation or rational deduction, but an integrative process emphasizing three major dimensions in encompassing both physical (empirical), psychic (cognitive), and affective (feeling and ethical) aspects of human life. This integration is structured as an interpretive structure based on the scientific consciousness triangle model, which shows the balance between perception, comprehension, and sense-making. The study reveals that the framework is in fact aligned with a Balinese Hindu epistemology that is situated, relational, and practice-based. This article provides a sophisticated process model of knowledge as part of the argument for enriching post-positivist and decolonial epistemological literature whilst facilitating dialogue between modern science and local ontologies.

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