HZT4U UNIT 2

Epistemology

knowledge study

Empiricism

belief that knowledge comes from sense

Rationalism

belief that knowledge comes from reason

Posteriori Knowledge

knowledge from sense

Priori Knowledge

knowledge from reason

Traditional True Belief

truth & belief

Justified True Belief

truth & belief & justification

Who first coined justified true belief?

Plato

Who disagreed with traditional true belief? (alongside the one who first coined justified true belief)

Bertrand Russell

Contemporary View on Knowledge

truth & belief & justification & justification not based on false statement

Direct Knowledge

knowledge through immediate experience

Indirect Knowledge

knowledge through direct knowledge

What does indirect knowledge require?

justification (can be judged true/false)

Competence Knowledge

knowledge through doing/seeing

Propositional Knowledge

knowledge through hearing/reading

Foundationalism

belief in direct knowledge foundation

Anti-Foundationalism

belief in innate knowledge

Skepticism

belief questioning assumption

Extreme Skepticism

knowledge ≠ possible

Brain in the Vat

thought experiment challenging reality/knowledge understanding

Confucius

philosopher believing knowledge comes with age

What does Confucius urge one NOT to do?

assume one knows more than one does

Plato

philosopher believing knowledge comes from reason

What does Plato believe about sense?

sense = unreliable

• based on opinion

• subject to change

What distinguishes the world of senses?

• visible

• material

• changing

• particular

• accessible through senses

What distinguishes the world of forms?

• invisible 

• immaterial 

• unchanging 

• universal

• accessible through reason

Who introduced an upwards reasoning journey?

Plato

What are Plato's stages of an intellectual journey?

 

world	what is known?	knowing “kind”
forms	universal concepts	knowing
forms	relations	thinking
senses	objects perceived by senses	believing
senses	images	dreaming

What must one do at each stage of Plato’s intellectual journey?

question assumption

→ reasoning upwards allows new assumptions

Stage 1 of Plato’s Intellectual Journey

Imagining

images through dreams

Stage 2 of Plato’s Intellectual Journey

Believing

objects through senses

Stage 3 of Plato’s Intellectual Journey

Thinking

concepts through reason

Stage 4 of Plato’s Intellectual Journey

Knowing

forms through reason

Aristotle

philosopher believing knowledge comes from sense

What does Aristotle believe about reason?

reason = human’s distinguishing factor

BUT comes after sense

What does Aristotle believe about objects?

essence = matter

Abstract World

world based on world of senses (Aristotle)

Inductive Reasoning

specific → general

Who introduced inductive reasoning?

Aristotle

Descartes

philosopher believing thinking is proof of living

Who introduced the evil genius thought experiment?

Descartes

What does the founder believe about the evil genius thought experiment?

thing must exist to experience illusion

What does Descartes believe about reason?

reason = primary knowledge source

How does Descartes use skepticism?

tool to differentiate believing & knowing

What did Descartes realize he could not doubt while in doubt?

• one was doubting

• one had to be doubter

Deductive Reasoning

general → specific (statement → certainty)

Who introduced deductive reasoning?

Descartes

How did Descartes establish “I think, therefore I am?”

Statement	I doubt everything
Statement	Doubting everything means that there must be doubting.
Statement	If there is doubting, there must be a doubter
Certainty	I doubt, therefore I must exist (I think, therefore I am)

How do Plato’s beliefs differ from Descartes’?

• accepted physical world

• content > process

How do Descartes’ beliefs differ from Plato’s?

• denied physical world

• process > content

How are Plato’s and Descartes’ beliefs similar?

• ideas = innate

• question sense knowledge & use reason

Emmanuel Kant

philosopher believing consciousness bridges sense/reason

Unity of Consciousness

consciousness = unified in one’s mind

What does Kant believe about sense & reason?

sense & reason = unified by mind

What does Kant believe about uniting sense & reason into consciousness?

mental activity before anything can be known

What does Kant believe the mind is programmed to impose?

causality [cause-effect relationship]

Bertrand Russell

philosopher coining knowledge through acquaintance/description

Knowledge Through Acquaintance

direct knowledge

Knowledge Through Description

indirect knowledge

Edmund Gettier

philosopher believing in false justified true belief

Gettier Case (Example)

A tells B they own a laptop

B believes because B sees A with laptop every day

A uses C’s laptop

Pyrrho of Elis

philosopher believing nothing can be known

Who introduced the theory of opposites?

Pyrrho of Elis

Theory of Opposites

proposition supported by evidence has opposite proposition supported by evidence too

→ people can’t truly know anything

Aenesidemus

philosopher believing one can experience proposition/opposition

What does Aenesidemus advise AGAINST?

all judgment

Who introduced the 10 modes of doubt?

Aenesidemus

Why were the 10 modes of doubt introduced?

shows knowledge claims = unreliable

Hilary Putnam

philosopher believing in radical skepticism refutal

Who introduced the Brain in the Vat thought experiment?

Hilary Putnam

What does the Brain in the Vat thought experiment imply about words and thoughts?

• words seem to refer

• thoughts seem to represent

Noam Chomsky

philosopher believing theory of innate ideas explains language foundation

Foundation of Language

belief in innate ability to comprehend “deep language structure”

Surface Structure Language

belief in learned ability to comprehend language

John Locke

philosopher believing mind is tabula rasa

Sensation

sense perception (taste/smell/touch/see/hear)

What is John Locke’s journey from a sense experience to idea?

sense experience

sensation

impression

reflection

idea

Simple Idea

idea by simple sensation

Complex Idea

idea by simple sensation & impression

How does John Locke explain non-material ideas?

imagining by originating from sensations

How does John Locke trust senses when people sense different things in different ways?

primary & secondary qualities

Primary Quality

objective characteristic

Secondary Quality

subjective characteristic

David Hume

philosopher believing impressions > ideas

Why does Hume dispute causality?

• not sense

• embraced because it helped world make sense

• just because something happened in past doesn’t mean it’ll happen in future

• connection’s realized after effect

  • believed these were imagined

What are the contemporary epistemology theories?

• pragmatism

• deconstructionism

• edification

Pragmatism

theory that people only believe practical things

Pluralism

belief that reality ≠ single thing

Pluralism Beliefs

• willing to accept different philosophies

• truth changes as people change

• meaning = effect

Deconstructionism

theory that language = unstable

Deconstructionism Beliefs

• deconstructs language

Edification

theory that there’s no objective world & no essence can be known

Edification Beliefs

• redefine world to make it better instead of building monistic systems

• use language based on history & society

What are the epistemological truth theories?

• correspondent

• coherent

• pragmatic

Correspondent Theory

theory that belief = true when it agrees with reality

Correspondent Theory Beliefs

• common-sense approach

  • closest to “objective” knowledge

“see to believe”

Correspondent Theory Criticisms

• oversimplifies truth

Coherent Theory

theory that belief = true when it coheres with existing knowledge

Coherent Theory Beliefs

• focuses on relationship among judgments

• allows degrees of truth

• accepts belief that might be false in future

Coherent Theory Criticisms

• can’t guarantee truth

  • beliefs could adhere with others but still be false

• requires testing of new ideas with others

  • no one knows all true statements