Epistemology and the Philosophy of Knowledge

Understanding Knowledge and Epistemology

To know and ascertain implies being sure and having the ability to prove our claims. We can distinguish between different types of knowledge:

Practical Knowledge: Knowing how to act in all sectors, including the moral sphere.
Theoretical, Technical, and Artistic Knowledge: Information and reports about the natural and social world that surrounds us. It describes, explains, and predicts reality.

We must distinguish knowledge from other cognitive states:

Opinion: A valuation of reality based on nurturing personal interests and beliefs, but lacking convincing or solid reasons.
Belief: Value judgments made without being fully proven. It has two primary uses:
- Doubtful Use: When we are not entirely sure of what is being stated.
- Assertive Use: When we feel sure, although no formal demonstration can be provided.

Language serves as the primary tool for the acquisition, storage, and transmission of information.

Linguistic Relativity (Sapir and Whorf): The theory that language determines our conception of the world.
Innate Theory of Language (Chomsky): The belief that human beings have an innate capacity to learn a language in a short time with minimal stimulus.

Propositional knowledge involves declarative sentences that assert or deny something empirical or formal:

Empirical Propositions: Affirming or denying something about the physical world.
Formal Propositions: Logical statements that have no direct relationship with the empirical world.

Truth of Facts (Reality): What is authentic. It discards mere appearance to seek actual truth (e.g., real pearls).
Truth of Propositions: Statements and assertions that do not contradict the world.

Truth as Correspondence: Truth expresses fitness or agreement with reality.
Truth as Coherence: A statement is true if it is not contradictory to other established truths.
Truth as Efficacy (Utility): Truth is measured by its practical consequences and coherence.

Evidence (Obviousness): A subjective certainty that makes something appear clearly true. Insufficiency: It is subjective, and false things can sometimes seem evident.
Intersubjectivity: Knowledge is not private; it requires the support and consensus of the community. Insufficiency: Even consensus is not always correct, as the majority can be wrong.

Different philosophical positions address our ability to acquire certain and universal knowledge:

Dogmatism: The position that we can acquire sure and universal knowledge (e.g., Descartes).
Skepticism: Doubts that any firm and secure knowledge can ever be attained (e.g., Pyrrho).
Criticism: Knowledge is not unquestionable or definitive; it must be constantly revised and criticized (e.g., Kant).
Relativism: Denies the existence of absolute truth (e.g., the Sophists).
Perspectivism: Denies absolute truth, arguing that truth is the sum of individual points of view (e.g., Ortega y Gasset).