Epistemology - By Branch / Doctrine - The Basics of Philosophy

Epistemology is the study of the nature and scope of knowledge and justified belief. It analyzes the nature of knowledge and how it relates to similar ... Philosophy| ByBranch/Doctrine| ByHistoricalPeriod| ByMovement/School| ByIndividualPhilosopher Ahugesubjectbrokendownintomanageablechunks RandomPhilosophyQuote: ByBranch/Doctrine> Epistemology Introduction|WhatIsKnowledge?|HowIsKnowledgeAcquired?|WhatCanPeopleKnow?|MajorDoctrines  Introduction BacktoTop Epistemologyisthestudyofthenatureandscopeofknowledgeandjustifiedbelief.Itanalyzesthenatureofknowledgeandhowitrelatestosimilarnotionssuchastruth,beliefandjustification.Italsodealswiththemeansofproductionofknowledge,aswellasskepticismaboutdifferentknowledgeclaims.Itisessentiallyaboutissueshavingtodowiththecreationanddisseminationofknowledgeinparticularareasofinquiry. Epistemologyasksquestionslike:"Whatisknowledge?","Howisknowledgeacquired?","Whatdopeopleknow?","Whatarethenecessaryandsufficientconditionsofknowledge?","Whatisitsstructure,andwhatareitslimits?","Whatmakesjustifiedbeliefsjustified?","Howwearetounderstandtheconceptofjustification?","Isjustificationinternalorexternaltoone'sownmind?" ThekindofknowledgeusuallydiscussedinEpistemologyispropositionalknowledge,"knowledge-that"asopposedto"knowledge-how"(forexample,theknowledgethat"2+2=4",asopposedtotheknowledgeofhowtogoaboutaddingtwonumbers). WhatIsKnowledge? BacktoTop Knowledgeistheawarenessandunderstandingofparticularaspectsofreality.Itistheclear,lucidinformationgainedthroughtheprocessofreasonappliedtoreality.Thetraditionalapproachisthatknowledgerequiresthreenecessaryandsufficientconditions,sothatknowledgecanthenbedefinedas"justifiedtruebelief": truth:sincefalsepropositionscannotbeknown-forsomethingtocountasknowledge,itmustactuallybetrue.AsAristotlefamously(butratherconfusingly)expressedit:"Tosayofsomethingwhichisthatitisnot,ortosayofsomethingwhichisnotthatitis,isfalse.However,tosayofsomethingwhichisthatitis,orofsomethingwhichisnotthatitisnot,istrue." belief:becauseonecannotknowsomethingthatonedoesn'tevenbelievein,thestatement"Iknowx,butIdon'tbelievethatxistrue"iscontradictory. justification:asopposedtobelievinginsomethingpurelyasamatterofluck. Themostcontentiouspartofallthisisthedefinitionofjustification,andthereareseveralschoolsofthoughtonthesubject: AccordingtoEvidentialism,whatmakesabeliefjustifiedinthissenseisthepossessionofevidence-abeliefisjustifiedtotheextentthatitfitsaperson'sevidence. DifferentvarietiesofReliabilismsuggestthateither:1)justificationisnotnecessaryforknowledgeprovideditisareliably-producedtruebelief;or2)justificationisrequiredbutanyreliablecognitiveprocess(e.g.vision)issufficientjustification. Yetanotherschool,Infallibilism,holdsthatabeliefmustnotonlybetrueandjustified,butthatthejustificationofthebeliefmustnecessitateitstruth,sothatthejustificationforthebeliefmustbeinfallible. Anotherdebatefocusesonwhetherjustificationisexternalorinternal: Externalismholdsthatfactorsdeemed"external"(meaningoutsideofthepsychologicalstatesofthosewhoaregainingtheknowledge)canbeconditionsofknowledge,sothatiftherelevantfactsjustifyingapropositionareexternalthentheyareacceptable. Internalism,ontheotherhand,claimsthatallknowledge-yieldingconditionsarewithinthepsychologicalstatesofthosewhogainknowledge. Asrecentlyas1963,theAmericanphilosopherEdmundGettiercalledthistraditionaltheoryofknowledgeintoquestionbyclaimingthattherearecertaincircumstancesinwhichonedoesnothaveknowledge,evenwhenalloftheaboveconditionsaremet(hisGettier-cases).Forexample:Supposethattheclockoncampus(whichkeepsaccuratetimeandiswellmaintained)stoppedworkingat11:56pmlastnight,andhasyettoberepaired.Onmywaytomynoonclass,exactlytwelvehourslater,Iglanceattheclockandformthebeliefthatthetimeis11:56.Mybeliefistrue,ofcourse,sincethetimeisindeed11:56.Andmybeliefisjustified,asIhavenoreasontodoubtthattheclockisworking,andIcannotbeblamedforbasingbeliefsaboutthetimeonwhattheclocksays.Nonetheless,itseemsevidentthatIdonotknowthatthetimeis11:56.Afterall,ifIhadwalkedpasttheclockabitearlierorabitlater,Iwouldhaveendedupwithafalsebeliefratherthanatrueone. HowIsKnowledgeAcquired? BacktoTop Propositionalknowledgecanbeoftwotypes,dependingonitssource: apriori(ornon-empirical),whereknowledgeispossibleindependentlyof,orpriorto,anyexperience,andrequiresonlytheuseofreason(e.g.knowledgeoflogicaltruthsandofabstractclaims);or aposteriori(orempirical),whereknowledgeispossibleonlysubsequent,orposterior,tocertainsensoryexperiences,inadditiontotheuseofreason(e.g.knowledgeofthecolororshapeofaphysicalobject,orknowledgeofgeographicallocations). Knowledgeofempiricalfactsaboutthephysicalworldwillnecessarilyinvolveperception,inotherwords,theuseofthesenses.Butallknowledgerequiressomeamountofreasoning,theanalysisofdataandthedrawingofinferences.Intuitionisoftenbelievedtobeasortofdirectaccesstoknowledgeoftheapriori. Memoryallowsustoknowsomethingthatweknewinthepast,even,perhaps,ifwenolongerremembertheoriginaljustification.Knowledgecanalsobetransmittedfromoneindividualtoanotherviatestimony(thatis,myjustificationforaparticularbeliefcouldamounttothefactthatsometrustedsourcehastoldmethatitistrue). Thereareafewmaintheoriesofknowledgeacquisition: Empiricism,whichemphasizestheroleofexperience,especiallyexperiencebasedonperceptualobservationsbythefivesensesintheformationofideas,whilediscountingthenotionofinnateideas.RefinementsofthisbasicprincipleledtoPhenomenalism,Positivism,ScientismandLogicalPositivism. Rationalism,whichholdsthatknowledgeisnotderivedfromexperience,butratherisacquiredbyaprioriprocessesorisinnate(intheformofconcepts)orintuitive. Representationalism(orIndirectRealismorEpistemologicalDualism),whichholdsthattheworldweseeinconsciousexperienceisnottherealworlditself,butmerelyaminiaturevirtual-realityreplicaofthatworldinaninternalrepresentation. Constructivism(orConstructionism),whichpresupposesthatallknowledgeis"constructed",inthatitiscontingentonconvention,humanperceptionandsocialexperience. WhatCanPeopleKnow? BacktoTop Thefactthatanygivenjustificationofknowledgewillitselfdependonanotherbeliefforitsjustificationappearstoleadtoaninfiniteregress. Skepticismbeginswiththeapparentimpossibilityofcompletingthisinfinitechainofreasoning,andarguesthat,ultimately,nobeliefsarejustifiedandthereforenoonereallyknowsanything. Fallibilismalsoclaimsthatabsolutecertaintyaboutknowledgeisimpossible,oratleastthatallclaimstoknowledgecould,inprinciple,bemistaken.UnlikeSkepticism,however,Fallibilismdoesnotimplytheneedtoabandonourknowledge,justtorecognizethat,becauseempiricalknowledgecanberevisedbyfurtherobservation,anyofthethingswetakeasknowledgemightpossiblyturnouttobefalse. Inresponsetothisregressproblem,variousschoolsofthoughthavearisen: Foundationalismclaimsthatsomebeliefsthatsupportotherbeliefsarefoundationalanddonotthemselvesrequirejustificationbyotherbeliefs(self-justifyingorinfalliblebeliefsorthosebasedonperceptionorcertainaprioriconsiderations). Instrumentalismisthemethodologicalviewthatconceptsandtheoriesaremerelyusefulinstruments,andtheirworthismeasuredbyhoweffectivetheyareinexplainingandpredictingphenomena.Instrumentalismthereforedeniesthattheoriesaretruth-evaluable.Pragmatismisasimilarconcept,whichholdsthatsomethingistrueonlyinsofarasitworksandhaspracticalconsequences. Infinitismtypicallytakestheinfiniteseriestobemerelypotential,andanindividualneedonlyhavetheabilitytobringforththerelevantreasonswhentheneedarises.Therefore,unlikemosttraditionaltheoriesofjustification,Infinitismconsidersaninfiniteregresstobeavalidjustification. Coherentismholdsthatanindividualbeliefisjustifiedcircularlybythewayitfitstogether(coheres)withtherestofthebeliefsystemofwhichitisapart,sothattheregressdoesnotproceedaccordingtoapatternoflinearjustification. Foundherentismisanotherpositionwhichismeanttobeaunificationoffoundationalismandcoherentism. MajorDoctrines BacktoTop UndertheheadingofEpistemology,themajordoctrinesortheoriesinclude: Constructivism Deconstructionism Empiricism Externalism Fallibilism Foundationalism Historicism Holism Internalism Instrumentalism LogicalPositivism(LogicalEmpiricism) OrdinaryLanguagePhilosophy Phenomenalism Positivism Pragmatism Rationalism Representationalism Scientism Skepticism Verificationism BacktoTopofPage Philosophy| WhatisPhilosophy?| ByBranch/Doctrine| ByHistoricalPeriod| ByMovement/School| ByIndividualPhilosopher   Thankyouforsupportingphilosophy! DonatewithCrypto Thearticlesonthissiteare©2008-.Ifyouquotethismaterialpleasebecourteousandprovidealink.Citations|FAQs|Inquiries|PrivacyPolicy