Unit 1: Theory of Knowledge - Stages, Philosophy, Science, and Epistemology

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the stages of human knowledge (myth, magic, technique, religion, art), Pre-Socratic philosophers, the nature and division of philosophy and science, and the distinctions between objective and subjective knowledge.

Myth (Mito)

Narrations or stories appearing in the Upper Paleolithic that explain and interpret the origins, internal social order, and destiny of a community, characterized by being anthropomorphic, animistic, indeterministic, and orientative.

Animism (in mythical thought)

The feature of myth in which nature is populated by living spirits endowed with intelligence, feelings, and intentions.

Indeterminism (in mythical thought)

The belief that events in nature occur arbitrarily and by chance, depending on the unpredictable will of cosmic forces rather than a regular system of causes.

Magic (Magia)

A second early stage of knowledge coexisting with myth, in which a socially privileged caste of sorcerers or shamans claims procedures of control and prediction over natural and spiritual phenomena through private, dogmatic rituals.

Technique (Técnica)

The oldest stage of practical knowledge in human evolution, based on trial-and-error rules without prior theoretical foundations, characterized by being specialized, public, and continuously revisable.

Religion (Religión)

An explanatory model for natural, social, and vital phenomena characterized by the recognition of transcendent and omnipotent powers beyond nature, mystery, and the possibility of human presence or connection with the sacred.

Arjé (Principle)

The foundational principle or origin underlying the plurality of beings and natural changes, investigated by the first Pre-Socratic Greek cosmologists.

Thales of Miletus (Tales de Mileto)

Pre-Socratic cosmologist (approx. 624–546 BC) who identified water as the fundamental principle ($arjé$) of nature.

Anaximander (Anaximandro)

Pre-Socratic philosopher (approx. 611–546 BC) who abstractly defined the fundamental principle ($arjé$) of nature as the indeterminate (lo indeterminado).

Anaximenes (Anaxímenes)

Pre-Socratic philosopher (585–525 BC) who identified the fundamental cosmic principle ($arjé$) as air.

Pythagoras (Pitágoras)

Pre-Socratic thinker (approx. 570–500 BC) who posited that numbers—specifically mathematical measures and proportions—are the permanent principle behind all natural phenomena.

Empedocles (Empédocles)

Pre-Socratic philosopher (approx. 492–432 BC) who proposed the four elements (water, earth, fire, and air) as the physical principle of reality.

Anaxagoras (Anaxágoras)

Pre-Socratic philosopher (approx. 500–425 BC) who identified the original seeds (semillas originarias) as the underlying principle of nature.

Leucippus (Leucipo)

5th-century BC philosopher who asserted that everything in the cosmos is composed of atoms.

Parmenides (Parménides)

Pre-Socratic philosopher (approx. 540–470 BC) who identified the fundamental principle of reality as being or entity (el ser o ente).

Heraclitus (Heráclito)

Pre-Socratic philosopher (approx. 550–480 BC) who theorized that everything in reality is governed by $logos$ or universal reason.

Epistéme

The Greek term for founded or scientific knowledge; in 6th-century BC Greece, it designated the exact same concept as philosophy, prior to their historical separation.

Philosophy (Filosofía)

The first advanced stage of knowledge, originating in 6th-century BC Greece as a rational explanation of natural causes, characterized by being causal, realistic, argumentative, and critical.

Science (Ciencia)

An advanced stage of knowledge that unifies reason and methodical experimentation to investigate the empirical causes of phenomena, characterized by its methodical, experimental, technological, and specialized nature.

Scientific Revolution (Revolución Científica)

The historical movement of the 15th to 17th centuries driven by thinkers like Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo that definitively separated science from philosophy by establishing distinct contents, disciplines, and methods.

Galileo

Renowned Renaissance investigator recognized as the founder of modern mathematical-experimental science.

Epistemology (Epistemología)

The branch of philosophical reflection that examines human knowledge, its origins, conditions, scope, and limits.

Objective Knowledge (Conocimiento objetivo)

A form of knowledge exemplified at its highest degree by science, which deals exclusively with given, positive, and verifiable facts and is semantically rigorous, univocal, intersubjective, cumulative, and contrastable.

Subjective Knowledge (Conocimiento subjetivo)

A form of knowledge exemplified at its highest degree by art (with philosophy in an intermediary position), which addresses ideas and values and is eidetic and axiological, polysemic, plural, incomparable, discontinuous, and conjectural.

Intersubjective (Intersubjetivo)

A characteristic of objective scientific knowledge meaning that its achievements and research results are public, repeatable, and interchangeable among members of the scientific community.

Eidetic and Axiological (Eidético y axiológico)

The property of subjective knowledge indicating that it refers not to empirical facts, but to mental abstractions consisting of ideas (eidetic) and values (axiological).

Polysemic (Polisémico)

A feature of subjective knowledge whereby a term, concept, or definition takes on different meanings depending on the thinker, current, or philosophical school involved.

Univocal (Unívoco)

A property of objective scientific knowledge whereby the scientific community accepts only one valid theory on a given problem and excludes competing alternatives.