Epistemiology Key concepts/Terms Flashcards
Idealism
The anti-realist theory of perception.Put forward by Berkeley, it is the view that matter does not exist independently of the mind and all that exists are the minds and their ideas.
Sense Data
What one is directly aware of in perception. the subjective elements which constitute experience.
Scepticism
The disbelief in any claims of ultimate knowledge
Concept
Having a concept of something is what enables one to recognise it , distinguish it from other things and think about it
A posteriori
A belief that can only be known via experience of the world
Primary and secondary qualities
Primary qualities : are properties of objects that are independent of any observer, such as solidity, extension, motion, They exist in the thing itself, can be determined with certainty, and do not rely on subjective judgements. Secondary qualities : are properties that produce sensations in observers, such as colour, taste, smell, and sound. They can be described as the powers of an object. They are Subjective. Primary qualities are measurable aspects of physical reality. Secondary qualities are subjective.
Naive direct realism
The common sense view of how perception works. The claim that our senses provide us with direct awareness of the external world.
Solipsism
The view that all that can be known to exist is my own mind.
Philosophical direct realism
The world is not exactly as it appears to be. The world independent of our perception, has no smell, colour or taste. Science is applied to explain perceptual errors.
External world
All that exists outside the mind or independently of the mind
inductive argument
An argument where the truth of the conclusion is not fully guaranteed by the truth of the premesis
Innate ideas
Ideas that exist in the mind which are not acquired from experience.
Infinite regress
A regress is a process of reasons from effect to cause ,or of going backwards in a chain of explanations. The process never stops , where it is repeated endlessly.
Illusions
errors of perception or judgement in which subjective experience differs from objective reality I.e. a stick looks bent in water.
Indirect realism
The view that immediate objects of perception are sense data or representations and that the physical world is perceived only indirectly via these representations
