Fundamental Philosophical Problems: Epistemology and Metaphysics

The Problem of Knowledge and Epistemology

The first philosopher to carry out a systematic or structured theory about knowledge was Plato. Plato established two different realities and, in consonance with these, established two forms of knowledge: sensible knowledge (which we acquire through the senses) and knowledge that we acquire through reason. The debate between these two forms has been constant throughout the history of philosophy and led to counterposed theories such as rationalism and empiricism.

Descartes was no stranger to this debate, and Hume sought to establish an empirical synthesis between the knowledge from the senses and reason. The philosophers who preceded them often leaned toward one or the other form of knowledge. For example, Plato called sensible knowledge opinion, and only knowledge through rational dialectics allows us to reach the true reality, which resides in the World of Ideas.

Another Greek philosopher, Aristotle, considered that knowledge is possible starting from the senses. From this sensory information, the understanding elaborates concepts that are abstract, universal, and necessary; therefore, they are valid only as true science. Later, Ockham criticized these theories of abstract or universal knowledge, proposing empiricism for the singular. For his part, Descartes represented the rationalist counterpoint to Hume; while Descartes defended innate ideas, Hume argued that our mind is a tabula rasa or blank slate. Finally, Kant's theory makes the crucial pact of philosophical reflection.

The Metaphysical Problem and the Study of Being

The term metaphysics was first used by Aristotle to refer to reality beyond this natural world, and he defined metaphysics as the study of being—that is, the discipline that points to the ultimate foundation of things. In the Middle Ages, Saint Thomas Aquinas and other philosophers were influenced by Aristotelianism and established a distinction between the Necessary Being (that which does not need anything else to exist) and contingent beings (those whose existence depends on the Necessary Being).

Descartes structured his metaphysics around the concept of substance and spoke of three distinct substances: the infinite, the thinking, and the extended. With Hume began the criticism of the concept of metaphysics, since the objects that metaphysics handles—such as God, the soul, and the world—are not things we have direct experience of. As a good empiricist, Hume based knowledge on valid experience.

Kant considers that while other sciences advance, metaphysics remains in a situation of endless discussion. He considers that it is necessary to review the reach of human knowledge and determine whether metaphysics can truly be considered a science.