1. Epistemology Summary

2. The Story So Far Epistemology as study of the nature of knowledge
What type of knowledge are we talking about?
Traditionally - Propositional Knowledge only (Justified True Belief)
More comprehensive - 3 types

3. Three Types of Knowledge
Propositional (knowledge about) - Wissen
Practical (knowledge how) - Wissen and Kennen
Relationship (knowledge of) - Kennen

4. How do we acquire it? Traditional Analysis
Senses (Empiricism) - raises the problem of perception
Thought (Rationalism) - the problem of its relationship to sense experience
Check out Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume and Kant

5. How do we acquire it? Complex
More sophisticated
Left and Right brain hemispheric distinctions
Their different ways of acquiring and dealing with the three types of knowledge
Right - direct experience, passes some of this to the Left for ‘processing’.
Left - takes what is given by the Right and sometimes passes it back for the Right to place in Context and give Meaning to the knowledge

6. L - R distinctions Build up a picture of the distinctions
Problem with modern Western individual and collective epistemology is that the return journey from L - R is being increasingly blocked
L is ‘dominating’ at an individual and social level
What is the evidence for and implications of this thesis?

7. Cultural Implications
Does this distinction have cultural implications?
Evidence that it does
“Eastern” vs. “Western” epistemologies
Correlation to the L- R thesis
L - Western way of acquiring and dealing with knowledge
R - Eastern way
This is the focus of Week 4.