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„Big Data” is a catchphrase referring to algorithmic procedures to process large amounts of data. It owes its success, and in particular its medial prominence, in part to its opposition to the established paradigm of relational database theory, whose main tenets, will be sketched in a first step. It is by contrasting „Big Data” with this traditional traditional procedure that the crucial contrast regarding the availability of an overwhelming mass of information can be drawn. Proponents of the former approach claim that a change of paradigm is called for because conventional theory is not equipped to handle these unprecedented challenges. The ensuing debate is presented in the second section of this paper. The opposing views can, as it turns out, be traced back to divergent epistemological attitudes. The contribution concludes with a discussion about the questionable move to establish the category „raw data” as an underlying domain for an innovative theory of data processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]