Epistemology: Our need to know about knowledge!

EPISTEMOLOGY: Our need to know about knowledge!

Definition

Epistemology is defined as the philosophical branch that studies human knowledge.

Its purpose is to investigate its elements, nature, methods, and limits. It also attempts to answer to basic questions such as: What are the necessary and sufficient conditions for knowledge? What is the difference between true knowledge and false knowledge?

Divisions

Epistemology is divided into several streams, which we will analyze in the following paragraphs:

EMPIRICISM



Stream that states man acquires his knowledge through senses. Knowledge is obvious and evident, and it is perceived or collected through experience. The information that our senses collect is absolutely veridic.

RATIONALISM

Now we get to a much more critic posture than empiricism. It proposes reason as the only valid criteria to determine the validity of our knowledge. This means knowledge is acquired after having analyzed information. Rationalism affirms reason analyzes what senses perceive, but it also considers the possibility that senses can cheat on us.

SKEPTICISM

Posture that states that ensures knowledge is NOT possible. The human being is unable to achieve certain and absolute knowledge of something. This stream presents several levels, from naïve skepticism, which is an absolute incredulous state toward knowledge; to ciritcal skepticism, which is doubt regarding certain objects we will never be able to know.

Still, rationalism presents an inconsistence, because it is contradictory. The posture itself (saying knowledge is impossible) is considered as knowledge!

RELATIVISM

This posture says there doesn't exist an absolute truth, but each individual achieves his own truth. In other words, it limits itself to the possibility of knowledge, since it varies according to multiple factors. It must be fundamented in an argumentative and critic posture, and it is generally subjective.

SOLIPSISM

Otherwise from relativism, solipsism limits to a single knowledge: THE EXISTENCE OF ONE SELF. It states that as much as an individual can know is his inner self. It denies knowledge because of the impossibility of demonstrating a reality external to the inner self.

CONSTRUCTIVISM

It affirms that knowledge is a constant, never-ending labor. This means knowledge is not a whole that can be acquired immediately; we BUILD it progressively. Contemporary science is constructivist, for instance.

Epistemological Questions (&possible answers)

• What is knowledge?

Theoretical and/or practical understanding of matters worth knowing; the sum of what is known

• How do we acquire knowledge?

Through experience.
Through sense perception.
Through a progressive process.

• Is it possible to have knowledge at all?

Yes, of course.
No, because it is NOT possible to demonstrate a reality exernal to the inner self.

• Does reason provide us with knowledge of the world independently of experience?

No, but when we are born we perceive the world with our senses, and this information collected is then called knowledge.

• Does knowledge represent reality as it really is?

This is a question that will never have an answer, because it's possible that each person in the world has a different reality created by himself, that has nothing to do with the real world. Or maybe, reality is inside of us; the real world is only us with what our minds create.

• What are the elements of knowledge?

The process of knowing something includes three elements: The subject that will acquire any knowledge, the object that will be studied by the subject, and the idea.

• How can the concept of false knowledge be defined?

When our senses collect information that is not entirely veridic; for instance, the color or shape of something. Or, for instance, thinking you know the naswer, but you do not.

• What makes justified beliefs justified?

The possesion of evidence, which makes us believe something.

• How we are to understand the concept of justification?
• Is justification internal or external to one's own mind?