epistemology

Question 1

who are the rationalism philosophers?

Answer 1

Descarte, Spinoza, Leibniz

Question 2

what is rationalism

Answer 2

Truths exist and intelligent people can understand them

Some truths cannot be perceived or experienced

Reason & logic must be used to gain some knowledge

Question 3

what is decarts approach to rationalism?

Answer 3

Knowledge is gathered from intuition & deductive reasoning, instead of senses

The ideas or concepts that constitute the mind’s ability to think are innate

Knowledge of a particular thing is innate(always known)

Some knowledge is innate and cannot be experienced, but can be reasoned to be true:
-Eternal truths
-Mathematics
-God

Question 4

what is spinosas approach to rationalism?

Answer 4

Everything is of one substance, (substance monist)

The natural world is composed of the eternal substance of God

Humans, too, are composed of this eternal substance

We can affirm the truth which is inherent in all things, through:
-Knowledge
-Imagination
-Intuition
-Intellect

Question 5

what is lebiniz’s approach to rationalism?

Answer 5

Combined Descartes’ dualism & Aristotle’s notion of form

Only God & non-composite, immaterial, soul-like entities called ‘monads’

Reality is predetermined by God to maintain harmony in the universe
Space, time, caus
ation, and material items are illusions

Question 6

does any one persons perspective tell the whole truth?

Answer 6

no

Question 7

who are the philosophers that deal with empiricism?

Answer 7

Hume Locke, Berkeley

Question 8

what is Humes approach to empiricism?

Answer 8

Causation cannot be taken for granted - Hume, problem of induction

Our senses may trick us
Knowledge must be experienced

Rigorous tests must be conducted & the result must be the same

evidence is crucial to support knowledge reliability

Question 9

what is Locke’s approach to empiricism?

Answer 9

We are born as a blank page, without knowledge or experience

Knowledge based on experience - Locke, Outer & Inner Experiences

Outer experience is based on the senses

Inner experience is based on reflection

Examining, comparing, and combining

Outer experiences may be affected by preferences & quality

Inner experiences may be affected by memory distortion & imagination

Question 10

what is Berkeleys approach to empiricism?

Answer 10

Berkeley defended both materialism & idealism
Everything that we perceive exists

God perceives everything, so things do not require a perceiver in order to exist (the tree falls in the forest)

Dreams & hallucinations cause ‘things’ to exist only in our minds

Question 11

Kant’s Synthesis of rationalism & empiricism

Answer 11

Our senses inform our understanding of the world (data)

We are only able to know/understand the phenomenal world

The phenomenal world is a combination of sense perceptions as organized by the knower

Reality exists independently, outside of the human mind

Question 12

Humes Skeptical Argument Concerning Induction?

Answer 12

Observed Regularities used to predict future events.
A proposition: All a’s are g’s by observation

Conclusion: All a’s will be g’s in the future

Laws of Nature
-Implicit assumption of the uniformity of nature

Question 13

is there a rationally compelling reason to use Inductive Reasoning?

Answer 13

no, but it is human nature

Question 14

what is the The Problem of Knowledge?

Answer 14

Skepticism about the external world and how we perceive it - and if we are truly perceiving it as it really is - means that knowledge is a problem, not a given.

Question 15

Plato’s Justified True Belief

Answer 15

Justification ~ a reason to believe in something

Truth ~ since false propositions cannot be known, for something to count as knowledge, it must be actually true

Belief ~ one cannot know something which one does not believe

Question 16

what is a Belief?

Answer 16

Inherently subjective

Beliefs may be held independently or collectively

Great certitude or conviction

Simply believing in something does not make it true

Beliefs are rarely verified by any objective methods

Beliefs are justified by the evidence of our senses, appeals to authority, or appeals to reason

Question 17

what is knowledge?

Answer 17

A belief which can be verified

Knowledge is a true belief:
-A belief
-Being true
-Can be justified

Question 18

how is knowledge attained?

Answer 18

Knowledge is attained by one of the following:

Empirical - based on one’s experience; sensory experience

Rational - based on reason alone, not experience

Transcendental Idealism - based on how one perceives the world as it appears to be

Question 19

what is truth?

Answer 19

Truth is a statement about how the world actually is.

Assertions, beliefs, thoughts or propositions put forth

Truth comes in three forms:

-Objective truth - outside one’s biases, interpretations or imaginings

-Subjective truth - based on one’s perspective, opinions, or feelings

-Universal truth - a logical truth, seen as eternal or absolute

-Scepticism can be experienced

-Theories of truth attempt to analyze truth

Question 20

what are justifiers for beliefs?

Answer 20

Prior knowledge or experience
Deduction
Fatalism
GroupThink
Hedonism
Intuition
Law of Nature
Occam’s Razor
Probability Theory
Scientific Method

Question 21

what is the gettier problem?

Answer 21

A justified belief does not dictate knowledge.
One may have a justified belief which is true but does not lead to knowledge.

Examples:
-A stopped clock is correct twice a day.
-A fire burns without smoke but attracts a
swarm of bugs which, in the distance looks like smoke.

Question 22

what is No false Beliefs?

Answer 22

Knowledge relying on a False Belief, such as the stopped clock, is problematic therefore, any inference made must also be true in order to support True Knowledge.

Question 23

what is No Defeaters?

Answer 23

An unknown fact that affects the justification of the true belief.

Question 24

Non-basic knowledge needs to be….?

Answer 24

Undefeated
Justified
True
Believed

Question 25

does casual theory require justification ?

Answer 25

No

Question 26

what are appropriate casual connections?

Answer 26

Sensory perception
Testimony
Inference

Question 27

what is casual theory?

Answer 27

knowing a fact=having a belief that is caused by that fact.
ex.
The mirage of water in the desert compared to the actual vision of water in a glass.