In contrary to social constructivism, it picks up the epistemological threads and maintains the radical constructivist idea that humans cannot overcome their limited conditions of reception (i.e. self-referentially operating cognition).
It is substantial for relational constructivism that it basically originates from an epistemological point of view, thus from the subject and its construction processes.
Coming from this perspective it then focusses on the (not only social, but also material) relations under which these cognitive construction processes are performed.
[1] Björn Kraus' relational-constructivist version of the lifeworld term considers its phenomenological roots (Husserl and Schütz), but expands it within the range of epistemological constructivist theory building.
In consequence, a new approach is created, which focusses on the individual perspective upon the lifeworld term and takes account of social and material environmental conditions and their relevance, as emphasized, for example, by Jürgen Habermas.
Essential therefore is Kraus' basic assumption that cognitive development depends on two determining factors.
[2]: 66 Building up on this point of view, a separation of individual perception and the social and material environmental conditions is made possible.
Lifeworld means a person's subjective construction of reality, which he or she forms under the condition of his or her life circumstances.
With this in mind, Manfred Ferdinand, who is reviewing the lifeworld terms used by Alfred Schütz, Edmund Husserl, Björn Kraus and Ludwig Wittgenstein, concludes: "Kraus' thoughts on a constructivist comprehension of lifeworlds contours the integration of micro-, meso- and macroscopic approaches, as it is demanded by Invernizzi and Butterwege: This integration is not only necessary in order to relate the subjective perspectives and the objective frame conditions to each other but also because the objective frame conditions obtain their relevance for the subjective lifeworlds not before they are perceived and assessed.
"[5]: 31 Björn Kraus deals with the epistemological perspective upon power regarding the question about possibilities of interpersonal influence by developing a special form of constructivism ("Machtanalytischer Konstruktivismus").
By using this distinction, proportions of power can be analyzed in a more sophisticated way, helping to sufficiently reflect on matters of responsibility.
[2]: 63 He also clarifies that it can only be decided from observer positions whether a statement is true or false, but that these decisions cannot be made arbitrarily, but must be reasonably justified.
In this respect, there can be no objective truth from the perspective of a constructivist epistemology, but it is still possible to justify when a statement should be considered true in terms of consensus and/or coherence.