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Epistemology
study of knowledge
Theory that tries to discover what knowledge is and how it differs from mere opinion. Tries to establish criteria for what is to count as knowledge
Difference between psychology and epistemology
psychology: describe the way the human mind works
epistemology: establish how we ought to think and how humans think
serves as a bridge to other issues:
Metaphysics: what is real
How we judge statements and their truth value (logic)
relate matters of belief and knowledge to choice of action (ethics)
The Correspondence Theory of Truth
our thoughts are true if they correspond to reality: works well with physical objects
a. Our thoughts are true if they correspond with reality
b. Theory works if you hold to a theory of knowledge that thoughts and ideas are copies of physical objects mediated by the senses
The Coherence Theory
entitled to accept the truth of a statement if its coherent with other accepted items of beliefs and knowledge
ex) astronomers believed in the existence of Pluto before they could even actually see it. Because they could make predictions based on patterns seen in space
The Pragmatic Test of Truth
Make choice based on practical difference
We don’t have empirical evidence for the truth of a new claim but it is coherent with our established belief. Pragmatic tests suggested by some philosophers is a way of judging hypotheses
We make choice based on the basis of practical difference. If no practical difference between them, then no matter of truth is at stake.
Source of Knowledge
Is knowledge based entirely on reason, or must it be grounded in direct sense experience of the world or some combination of the two?
Ideal kind of knowledge we are all after tells us something about the real world and that it is absolutely certain
What can we know with complete certainty?
Rationalists and Empiricists
Ex) Descartes
They attempt to avoid all possibility of being wrong
Emp: consists of purely introspective claims about how things appear to us. No possibility of error, no failed correspondence
Descartes
A french philosopher and mathematician who signaled the end of medieval philosophy and the rise of modern philosophy
Need to achieve certainty: Meditations and I think therefore I am
Descartes was the first philosopher to approach epistemology with methods of mathematical inquiry
Used skepticism to overturn skepticism.
Grounds for Doubt
First ground: common experience of being deceived by our senses.
Second: while sleeping, we dream all sorts of situations that do not correspond with reality of our waking life. How do we know we are not dreaming right now?
What if there was no good God, but rather an evil god that tries to deceive you. How can we be sure we havent been deceived?
Foundational Belief
Descartes foundational belief was his most famous phrase: I think therefore I am. Descartes knew he must exist because he was thinking. Therefore he at least existed as a thinking thing
Second Meditation and wax example
Wax example: we know that wax is still wax after we have melted it. Even though its characteristics have changed, its still wax. So how do we know its still wax? The power of reason
Thomas Aquinas
Author of the Summa Theologiae and elaborated heavily on the nature of desire
“All things desire their own perfection.”
Natural desire
corresponds to the inner, natural striving for perfection
conscious desire
desire that follows some kind of knowledge
Two Factors of Desire
General tendency toward good is characteristic of all beings
Conscious impulse toward good as apprehended by some knowing power
a. sense appetite: individual good
b. rational appetite: universal good
Passion
pati (to suffer) means any change from potency to act, the thing changed being considered as receiving action
Um odd thing about progression of physical change
awareness+impulse= physical change
Concupiscible Appetite
a) All passions stem from love or hate
b) love follows apprehended good, if present joy if absent desire
c) can be grouped in harmful or harmless
d) initial love and hate persist through passions
Irascible Appetite
a) with obstacles, emotions, and responses become more complicated
b) differs from concupiscible appetite in that they can be in opposition
c) split between difficult good to obtain and difficult evil to avoid
The power of rational desire in man is called _______, where man finds rest only in the perfect, unlimited good, and this it has to ________.
the will and love
The act of will falls into two categories: ____________. Man _________will the good
necessary and free. Must.
Rational desire is the pull toward the good as _______ knows it. Man desires good but has to ________ among the paritcular goods.
reason and choose
What do St. paul and St. Augustine call man’s self-fulfillment?
liberty
Freedom of choice
the mechanism by means of which our freedon is realized
State of Liberty
the willing of our true end
Freedom of Non-Coercion
a) basic freedom: for those who believe we are no better than animals, only freedom from not being interfered with our natural tendencies
b) animal is free if its not caged up and a stone is free to fall from someones hand
Freedom of Choice
a) wide variance of the paths that lead to man’s end and freedom of choice is to choose which path to follow
b) there is no freedom on earth that is absolute: to choose something means to commit oneself and thus in its nature is limiting
Liberty (Freedom of Self-Realization
a) given to us so that we may realize our true potential
b) man is free to choose but not free from the laws of the universe
c)true freedom can only be found in mastering one’s self
The Slave State
ex) communists
a) freedom to consent to what you have to do anyhow
b)gives rise to dictator state
The Laissez-Faire State
a) social life built on freedom
b) state safeguards the people
c) no social justice or common good
d) gives rise to social anarchy
e) citizen becomes slave to ensure freedom
The Superstate
Glory/ freedom realized through the state
Freedom in such a society is the service of the common task or leader
hypocritical and destructive
The Just State
a) state as meant for man and not man for the state
b) the life of man is for eternity
c) fosters the common good
d) freedom of self-mastery and live well
St. Augustine quote:
“The law of liberty is the law of love.”
Selfish Love
lowest and most elementary form of love
love of desire by which we want things
love of concupiscence or desire
Altruistic Love
a) love of friendship, relationships of equality
b) three kinds of friendships: reciprocal self-interest, based on superficial characterisitics, and perfect friendship (disinterested loved)
The Love of Charity
a) know through revelation
b) we have reason and will, we can know God
c) capacity for divine love restores man through redemption
Love of Friendship in the Social Group
For Utility: commerical groups or labor unions
Sake of Pleasure: lodges or clubs
Based on love of the good itself: love of family and love of country, soul of community, mirrors all the levels of friendship
The Meaning of the Soul
vitalizing principle of the body ( soul enlivens the body of the man)
Animal and plant soul differ from human soul: intellect and will
The Existence of the Soul
a) we can’t study soul itself but can with its effects
b) We perform certain activities which can’t be explained by mere response to physical forces
The Soul of Man
primary act of the form is being alive
matter and form of human are complementary principles
the soul is the substantial form of man
The spirtuality of the soul
the forms of things exist in man as universal or immaterial
intellectual activity of man is intrinsically independent of matter
since the actions of knowing and willing are independent of matter, the soul must be independent of matter
Other Views of the Soul
Plato’s view: soul trapped in body
St. Augustine: man as a rational soul using a body
Descartes: body=machine driver=soul
David Hume and Stuart Mill deny existence of soul
The Origin of the Soul
doesnt come from the body
doesnt come from another soul: cannot divide something spiritual
a new soul comes into being with each new human beings
thus, someone has to create it (God)
The Immortality of the Soul
cannot be destroyed
soul of man is not composed of form and matter
soul is independent of body for their exercise
Confirmation of the philosophical argument
immortality of the soul finds corroboration in common sense: in instinctiveness to survive
insights based on the moral life of man
Inadequacy of the Philosopher’s Knowledge
soul and body need to exist together
cannot envision the satisfaction of unity between the soul and body or the desire for the union with God
The Religious Knowledge of Immortality
transmigration of souls and Christian belief
True or False. The form of man exists in all time and space
true
true or false. the will desires the immaterial goods
true
First Principles
Principle of Noncontradiction: A thing cannot be two things at once
Principle of Identity: A thing is what it is
Principle of Excluded Middle: A thing cannot be between two things, it must be one or the other
Principle of Causality: There must be a cause
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