It seems to me that the basic or root issue to resolve here first remains whether the overall accepted approach (or philosophy and theory and logic) is mainly to be idealist objectivism or realist relativism or nominalist subjectivism. ---Frances
PS When a group of communal minds tentatively agrees on the meant truth of even an abstract mental object, then that meant truth becomes an objective object of reality that exists independent of the individual minds, regardless of what any member in the group might think of it. This is the only reasonable way that any research can progress. ---Frances William wrote... "Yes, I agree that when we assume meanings as a shortcut we are indeed behaving within a cultural paradigm or conforming to habits of a group."
