Exploring Epistemology and Theories of Truth

PARADOX

A statement that contradicts itself, but might be true.

BLATANT

A behavior that is obvious or intentional and done without worry about what others think.

MALLEABLE

Something/someone that is easily influenced or pliable.

ABHOR

To imply strong feelings of disgust.

KNACK

A special talent or skill.

Objective

Identify the meaning, importance, and source of knowledge.

Truth

A beautiful and terrible thing that should be treated with great caution.

Philosophy

A discipline that encourages the use of thinking over emotions to know the truth.

Life Support

Medical equipment that sustains a patient in a state of coma.

Vital Signs

Indicators of a patient's life functions, such as heart rate and blood pressure.

Healing Effect

The positive impact that someone's presence can have on a patient's recovery.

Community Prayers

Collective hopes and wishes from a group for a miracle.

Consent

Permission given by family members to make medical decisions.

Miracle

An extraordinary event that cannot be explained by natural or scientific laws.

Reflection

The process of thinking deeply about one's beliefs and experiences.

Belief

An acceptance that something exists or is true, especially without proof.

Disaster

A sudden event that causes great damage or distress.

Experience

Practical contact with and observation of facts or events.

Examination Period

A designated time for students to take tests or assessments.

Choice

An act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities.

Emotions

Complex psychological states that involve physiological arousal, thoughts, and feelings.

Knowledge

Information, understanding, or skill obtained from experience or education.

Opinion

A personal view, attitude, or appraisal about a situation.

Epistemology

A science devoted to the discovery of the proper method of acquiring and validating knowledge.

Nature of Knowledge

A mental grasp of reality reached either by perceptual observation or by a process of reason based on perceptual observation.

Empiricism

A method of acquiring knowledge using our senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, smelling.

John Locke's Concept of Mind

The concept of mind being a tabula rasa (empty tablet/blank sheet) upon which one could write and store ideas based on experiences.

Forms of Experience

Two forms where a person could acquire knowledge: sensation and reflection.

Rationalism

A method of acquiring knowledge by thinking with the use of our minds, viewing reason as the chief source of knowledge.

Rene Descartes

A proponent of rationalism who contended that a person was born with innate a priori or theoretical knowledge.

A priori Knowledge

Knowledge that is theoretical and can be deduced through mental reasoning.

Senses

The faculties of seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, and smelling used in the method of empiricism.

Content of Thinking

Thinking involves content; to think is to think of something, as one cannot think about nothing.

Sense Perception

The process of feeding our minds with data from the outside world to have something to think about.

Philos

A term meaning love, often associated with knowledge.

Logos

A term meaning reason or principle, often associated with knowledge.

Episteme

A term meaning knowledge.

Sophia

A term meaning wisdom.

George Berkley

A philosopher associated with empiricism.

David Hume

A philosopher associated with empiricism.

Baruch Spinoza

A well-known rationalist in history.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

A well-known rationalist in history.

Acquiring Knowledge

The process of gaining understanding or awareness through various methods.

Demonstrating Knowledge

The method of showing whether the knowledge acquired is really knowledge (i.e., true).

Ayn Rand

A philosopher who contributed to the understanding of knowledge and epistemology.

Existence

Everything there is, including the Universe and all entities perceived or conceived.

Perception

The process of acquiring knowledge through our senses.

Primary Substance

Entities that can be perceived, such as dog, cat, chair, table, and man.

Aristotelian Categories

Aspects of things that include qualities, quantities, relationships, and actions.

Concept

An abstract or generic idea generalized from particular instances.

First Level Concepts

Elementary concepts formed from direct perception, such as dog, cat, man, house, car.

Abstraction from Abstractions

The process of forming higher level concepts from first level concepts.

Wider Generalization

The process of forming wider concepts from specific instances.

Subdivisions

The process of identifying finer distinctions within a concept.

Hierarchy of Concepts

A structured arrangement of concepts from concrete to abstract.

Concrete Knowledge

Knowledge that is closely related to perceptual experience.

Abstract Knowledge

Knowledge that is further removed from perceptual experience.

Profession

A category of subdivision under the concept of man, such as doctor or teacher.

Race

A category of subdivision under the concept of man, such as Asian or Caucasian.

Gender

A category of subdivision under the concept of man, such as man or woman.

Nationality

A category of subdivision under the concept of man, such as Filipino or American.

Binswanger 2014

A reference to a source discussing concepts and abstractions.

Peikoff 1990

A reference to a source discussing existence and reality.

Rand 1990

A reference to a source discussing concepts and abstraction processes.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

A source defining the term 'concept' as an abstract idea generalized from instances.

Proposition

A statement that expresses either an assertion or a denial that an existent belongs to a class or possesses certain attributes.

Affirmative Proposition

A proposition that asserts something about the subject, typically structured as 'S is P'.

Negative Proposition

A proposition that denies something about the subject, typically structured as 'S is not P'.

Truth Values

The two possible states of a statement being true or false.

Argument

A group of statements, one or more of which (the premises) are claimed to provide support for, or reason to believe one of the others (the conclusion).

Premise

A statement that provides justification, evidence, and proof to the conclusion in an argument.

Conclusion

A statement that we want to prove in an argument.

Inference

A reasoning process expressed in arguments, often used interchangeably with the term 'argument' in logic.

Knowledge Validation

The process of confirming one's knowledge by retracing the steps taken to acquire it.

Reduction

The process of retracing the steps taken to acquire knowledge in reverse order, as described by Dr. Peikoff.

Socratic Argument

An example of an argument structure that includes premises leading to a conclusion, such as 'All men are mortals; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal.'

Declarative Sentence

A sentence that makes a statement or assertion, typically used to express propositions.

Logical Relationship

The connection expressed by the copula 'is' between the subject and predicate in a proposition.

Philosophical Inquiry

The quest for truth that drives the existence of philosophy.

Reverse Engineer

The method of retracing steps taken to acquire knowledge for the purpose of validating it.

Heraclitus' Quote

The assertion that 'the way up [knowledge acquisition] is the way down [knowledge validation]' as applied to epistemology.

Belief Justification

The process of proving a belief to be true through the use of one's senses.

Self-Observation

The act of using one's senses to validate personal statements about existence.

Proof

A multi-step process of validation that ultimately rests on sense perception.

Factual Statements

Statements based on sense perception that can be deemed true if beliefs are based on such facts.

Consensus

A method of determining truth based on majority agreement, though it has limitations.

False Consensus

A situation where a widely held belief is incorrect, leading to negative consequences.

Testing by Action

A method to determine the truth of a statement by taking action related to it.

Characteristics of Opinion

1. Based on emotions 2. Open to interpretation 3. Cannot be confirmed 4. Inherently biased

Characteristics of Truth

1. Based on the facts of reality 2. Can be confirmed with other sources 3. Independent of interpretation, preferences, and biases

Example of Truth

The statement 'Jose Rizal died in 1896' is true because it is based on historical fact.

Example of Opinion

The statement 'Jose Rizal is the greatest man who ever lived' reflects personal preference, not fact.

Personality-oriented Voters

A claim that Filipino voters prioritize personalities over issues in elections.

Current Leadership

The statement that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is the new leader of the Philippines.

Solar System

The statement that the sun is the center of the solar system.

Right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness

Fundamental rights that every person is entitled to.

Family interests

Consideration of the well-being of one's family before personal happiness.

President's role

The responsibility of the President to uphold democracy and serve the interests of the people.

Covid-19 impact

The pandemic has resulted in a significant loss of life.

Puerto Galera

A top tourist destination known for its high number of visitors.