The constitution of professional knowing: an interdisciplinary contribution on the duality of social use of knowledge

Abstract

The article aims to develop the foundations of a sociocognitive theory that is based on the following hypothesis: professional knowledge has a dual form of knowing which allows the coexistence of tacit knowledge of doing and thinking with principles and abstract and formal knowledge in action contexts and practical situations, without merging or separating them completely. This dual way of using knowledge distinguishes it from other social uses of knowledge and from the general concept of professional knowledge. For this purpose, the article seeks to present a theoretical proposal for interdisciplinary dialogue among some branches of cognitive psychology and some of the most renowned social theories on the duality in the structuration of social life.