PHI 428 – Epistemology (Chapter 4)

Fifty Q&A flashcards summarizing key ideas from PHI 428 Epistemology, covering definitions of knowledge, Islamic perspectives, sources of knowledge, inner faculties, wisdom, limits of truth, and states of doubt and certainty.

1. What does epistemology primarily study?

The nature, sources, limitations and validity of knowledge.

2. In Islam, how do ‘signs’ (āyah) relate to knowledge?

Observing signs in the universe allows people to infer and acquire knowledge about realities, just as thunder signals impending rain.

3. According to Syed Muhammad al-Attas, what is meant by “experience” as a way of knowing?

Living life itself; experiential engagement with the world provides knowledge.

4. How did al-Qadi ʿAbd al-Jabbār define knowledge?

A meaning that makes the soul of the knower feel content after acquiring it.

5. What is Imam al-Ghazālī’s famous definition of knowledge (“ḥuṣūl al-mithāl fi l-qalb”)?

The attainment of an actual description or representation in the heart.

6. How did the two al-Jubbaʾī scholars define knowledge?

A conviction about something that corresponds with reality.

7. How did Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) describe knowledge?

The understanding or discernment (idrāk) of something in which reality represents itself in the intellect.

8. Imam al-Ghazālī’s practical definition: what does information lead to?

Successful attainment of the true goal of life.

9. How did al-Jurjānī describe knowledge?

Attaining the description of something in the mind.

10. What is al-Attas’s concise definition of knowledge?

The arrival of the right meaning and description of a thing into the soul.

11. How did al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī define knowledge?

Understanding something in accordance with its true nature.

12. In epistemic terms, what is the difference between wusūl and ḥuṣūl?

Wusūl is one’s active effort to reach meaning; ḥuṣūl is the arrival of that meaning into the self by God’s grace.

13. Which everyday example illustrates wusūl and ḥuṣūl in the notes?

Using a pole (wasīlah) to knock down a coconut (wusūl), and the coconut’s falling by Allah’s permission (ḥuṣūl).

14. According to al-Attas, what gives a thing its “meaning”?

Knowing and placing the thing in its proper place within a systematic order.

15. Name the four principal Islamic sources of knowledge.

Sound senses, sound reason, true report, and intuition.

16. What are the five external senses (panca indera)?

Sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch.

17. Which philosophical school claims the senses are the sole source of knowledge?

Empiricism.

18. List the internal senses identified by scholars such as al-Ghazālī.

Common sense (al-ḥiss al-mushtarak), representation (al-khayāliyyah), estimation (al-wahmiyyah), retention-recollection (al-ḥāfiẓah & al-dhākirah), and imagination (al-mutakhayyilah).

19. What is the chief function of al-ḥiss al-mushtarak (common sense)?

To unite data from the five external senses into a single image or representation.

20. Where is the representation of perceived objects stored according to the model?

In al-khayāliyyah, the faculty of mental imagery and memory.

21. Which inner faculty evaluates the perceived image (e.g., judging a durian’s tastiness)?

Al-wahmiyyah (estimation).

22. Which faculty combines ideas creatively to generate new designs or concepts?

Al-mutakhayyilah (imagination).

23. What is the role of al-ḥāfiẓah & al-dhākirah?

Retention and recollection—deepening understanding and recalling stored meanings.

24. According to al-Ghazālī, how do the inner senses develop?

They grow and refine with age.

25. Which philosophical school regards reason as the only source of knowledge?

Rationalism.

26. In logic, what is “common sense” reasoning?

The mind’s ability to draw conclusions from premises.

27. Why can common-sense conclusions still be false?

Because correct premises may be combined with faulty reasoning or cultural biases.

28. What is “true report” (khabar ṣādiq) and its two kinds?

Reports from unlikely-to-lie sources: (1) scholarly consensus/scientific expertise, and (2) divine revelation (Qur’an and authentic ḥadith).

29. Why is scientific literature considered only conditionally true?

Its conclusions are open to revision by new experiments or discoveries.

30. Why are Qur’an and authentic ḥadith regarded as absolutely true?

Because they originate from infallible divine revelation and a prophet who does not lie.

31. What is the lowest level of intuition illustrated in science?

Scientists’ sudden insights after extensive study, e.g., Newton formulating gravity.

32. Who possesses the highest level of intuition in Islamic thought?

The Prophets, followed by saints and the spiritually close to God.

33. What is gnosis (maʿrifah) according to al-Attas?

Illuminative knowledge granted by God through inspiration or intuition to chosen servants.

34. How does al-Attas distinguish ‘science’ from ‘gnosis’?

Science is knowledge of known objects; gnosis is acquaintance-based, God-granted insight.

35. Define wisdom (ḥikmah) in al-Attas’s framework.

Knowing the limits of usefulness and meaning of knowledge and when to stop inquiry or action.

36. What paradox about knowledge and truth did al-Attas express?

Objects of knowledge are unlimited, yet each object has a definite limit of truth.

37. How did Imam al-Ghazālī prioritize learning within life’s limited span?

By dividing knowledge into obligatory Fard ʿAyn (for all) and Fard Kifāyah (for specialists).

38. What is ‘justice in knowledge’ (keadilan ilmu)?

Placing each piece of knowledge or thing in its rightful, beneficial place.

39. Provide concise definitions of wisdom, adab, and justice.

Wisdom: right judgment using knowledge; Adab: proper etiquette/behavior; Justice: putting things in their rightful place.

40. What is doubt (shakk) in epistemic terms?

Suspension between two opposing possibilities without leaning toward either.

41. What is conjecture (ẓann)?

An inclination toward one side while still retaining some possibility of the other.

42. Define certainty (yaqīn).

Firm adherence to one side with rejection of the opposite, producing assurance.

43. What are the three Qur’anic degrees of certainty?

ʿIlm al-yaqīn (knowledge of certainty), ʿAyn al-yaqīn (vision of certainty), Ḥaqq al-yaqīn (truth of certainty).

44. What is ʿIlm al-yaqīn?

Certainty gained through reported knowledge or rational proof (e.g., reading that durian tastes good).

45. What is ʿAyn al-yaqīn?

Certainty through direct sight or observation (watching people enjoy durian).

46. What is Ḥaqq al-yaqīn?

Certainty experienced personally (tasting the durian oneself).

47. How do doubt and certainty respectively affect human well-being?

Doubt causes misery and anxiety; certainty brings relief and happiness.

48. What Qur’anic instruction regarding ẓann appears in Sūrah al-Ḥujurāt?

Believers are commanded to avoid much conjecture because some conjecture is sinful.

49. According to Mufti Ismail Menk, why can trials feel unbearable?

Weak faith and lack of full trust in God make patience difficult, though God never burdens beyond capacity.

50. What contrast did Albert Einstein draw between society’s values and true gifts?

Society honors the rational mind (faithful servant) but forgets the intuitive mind (sacred gift).