Theories of Knowledge: Truth, Belief, and Philosophical Positions

Theory of Knowledge

Knowing is a mental activity of apprehension, whose objective is to grasp the reality of things. Knowledge can take many forms, but it always involves a subject who knows and an object that is known. Shared knowledge, the activity of knowing, and its result all contribute to how humans understand the world.

Types of Knowledge

• Opinion: The subject considers something true, but without certainty or evidence.
• Belief: A conviction in something that has not been demonstrated.
• Scientific knowledge: Knowledge that has been demonstrated through logic and practice.
• Technical knowledge: Knowledge motivated by the desire to dominate nature and achieve practical results.
• Emancipatory knowledge: Knowledge that frees people from dogmatism and oppression.

Philosophical Positions on Knowledge

• Dogmatism: The naive attitude that believes knowledge is fully attainable without questioning it.
• Skepticism: The position that doubts the possibility of achieving reliable knowledge or that considers some claims unattainable.
• Subjectivism: The position that denies universally valid truth and holds that truth depends on the individual.
• Relativism: The position that holds something is true or false depending on culture and time.
• Pragmatism: The position that identifies truth with what is useful and produces benefits when solving problems.
• Critical rationalism: The position that maintains knowledge can be revised and that multiple perspectives should be considered.

Related Concepts

• Ignorance: The state of not knowing or admitting a lack of knowledge.
• Doubt: The state of not affirming or denying something, weighing evidence on both sides with similar strength.
• Subjective certainty: The state in which a person affirms something as true without admitting possible error.

Criteria of Truth

Criteria of truth are characteristics that allow us to distinguish true from false knowledge. The main criteria include:

• Logical coherence: A statement is true if it does not contradict itself and fits with other accepted statements.
• Utility: A statement is true if it is useful for solving problems.
• Evidence: Something is true when it is presented as evident, with data and verifiable facts.
• Correspondence with reality: Knowledge is true when it agrees with the facts it describes.
• Consensus: Knowledge is true when reasons are sufficient to convince other interlocutors.

Truth and Appearance

Truth is opposed to appearance, which is what seems real but is not. Regarding the nature of truth, we can distinguish:

• Contingent truth: Something that may or may not be the case.
• Necessary truth: Something that is absolutely real, that exists, and cannot be otherwise.
• Physical truth: Things we perceive through the senses.
• Mental truth: Perceptions and sets of sensations generated by our mind.

Possibility and Reality

Something is technically possible when it can be done starting from existing conditions. Basic components of natural dynamics are finite and temporal. Fundamentally, reality is being in the world.