What is Epistemology?

The term ‘epistemology’ comes from the Greek word episteme which means knowledge. The English suffix ‘-ology’ means “the study of”. Epistemology, then, refers to the study of knowledge.

Epistemologists study the nature, scope, limits and origin(s) of human knowledge.

2 Key Branches of Epistemology RATIONALISM: Knowledge comes from exercising the human ability to reason (a priori knowledge) EMPIRICISM: Knowledge comes from evidence presented by the senses (a posteriori knowledge)

Some key thinkers’ epistemological ponderings…

Confucius (551-479 BCE) “To realize you know something is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”

He also claimed… “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance”. wise people do not pretend or claim to know more than they actually do Emphasized the concrete and the practical, and believed that knowledge was a lifelong process

Plato (429-347 BCE) The things people perceive through the senses are subject to change because these things disintegrate, dissolve and wear down thus making knowledge from the senses unreliable People can only generate opinions about the sensory world

only the power of REASON can reveal genuine, true knowledge (theory of forms) Learning is simply REMEMBERING innate knowledge

Aristotle (384 -322 BCE) Supported the idea that the world of forms is superior, and also maintained that all knowledge comes from experience Argued that reason is the characteristic that distinguishes human beings Did NOT accept Plato’s notion of innate ideas, argued that REASON came into play only AFTER people experienced things through their senses

Descartes…I think therefore I am. (1596 - 1650) Centuries later, Descartes focused on epistemology by asking: “What can I know for certain?”

Descartes continued… He decided to accept nothing as true that he did not clearly recognize to be so he…

Advocated ‘systematic doubt’ Argued people could know things independently of physical reality, and that people come to this knowledge by using the power of their own reason

John Locke (1632-1704) His theory of ‘Tabula Rasa’ (Blank Slate) challenged the ideas of Descartes Locke influenced by and built on the ideas of Aristotle Argued that ideas are the byproduct of sensory experience

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) Tried to bridge the gap between rationalism and empiricism He accepted aspects of each school of thought Made consciousness a central feature of philosophy Proposed ‘unity of consciousness’ idea (your ideas are your own and no one else’s)

Kant continued… A person’s consciousness (thoughts, beliefs, hopes, fears, etc.) are unified in one’s own mind and no one else’s Argued that knowledge, derived from reason or experience is bound together - or unified- by the human mind Combining innate ideas and sensory perception is a mental activity that must take place before anything can be known