Epistemology: Understanding Human Knowledge and Reality

What is Epistemology?

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge and how we understand reality. This document delves into the main questions philosophers have asked about human knowledge, focusing on our two primary cognitive faculties: reason and the senses.

Key Areas of Epistemological Inquiry

• Methods proposed to guarantee rigorous and trustworthy acquisition of knowledge.
• The objective of all knowledge: truth. What is truth, and what criteria have been proposed for identifying it?
• Philosophical theories that question whether human knowledge is limited or limitless.

Cognitive Faculties: Reason and the Senses

Reason and the senses are the two main instruments we use to experience reality. Our senses allow us to be aware of our surroundings, which is crucial for survival. Sensitive knowledge results from processing this sensory information in our minds.

Sensations and Perception

The information that reaches our senses comprises sensations and perception. Sensations are psycho-physical phenomena that occur when our sensory organs are stimulated. Perception is the interpretation of these sensations. Both sensations and perception are selective.

Reason

Reason as a cognitive faculty is exclusive to human beings. Only humans can think about the world rationally. Rational knowledge works with concepts, created through a process of abstraction. This involves selecting the characteristics shared by a series of specific objects and ignoring those that differentiate them.

Elements of Rational Knowledge

• Concepts: Mental pictures used to understand what we perceive.
• Judgments: Sentences that may be true or false.
• Reasoning: A series of judgments related to one another using logical laws. The truth of a judgment obtained through reasoning depends on the truth of the judgments used to arrive at it.

Rationalism, Empiricism, and Criticism

Three fundamental, opposing philosophical positions exist on the role of the senses and reason in knowledge: rationalism, empiricism, and criticism.

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Levels and Types of Knowledge

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The Cartesian Method

Developed by René Descartes, this method consists of four steps:

1. Evidence: Something can only be true if the attentive mind sees it so clearly and distinctly as to exclude all doubt.
2. Analysis: To arrive at evidence, it is necessary to break any complexities down into as many simple parts as possible to identify and understand them.
3. Synthesis: We must then use the simple to rebuild the complex.
4. List and Review: In the final step, Descartes tells us to review everything we have already done to ensure we have made no mistakes.

The Transcendental Method