Knowledge And The Knower Flashcards
A Posteriori Knowledge
Knowledge obtained through observation and experience
A Priori Knowledge
Knowledge that is independent of observation of direct experience and obtained through theoretical deduction
Allegory of the Cave
Plato’s symbolic representation of human beings living in reality and our interpretations of it, which may differ from individual to individual based on personal perception and life experience.
Analogy of the Sun
Plato’s representation of ‘the good’ through the image of the Sun as the Sun spreads light on the truth.
Analytic Statement
Hume’s term for a statement of which the truth value is determined by the meanings of its terms; e.g., “All squares are four-sided.” Hume also called these relations of ideas.
Assumption
a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof.
Bias
a disproportionate weight in favour of or against an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned.
Black Swan Event
an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences.
Body Theory of Identity
the concept of an identity being individualised through physical features/bodily form
Bottom-up processing
organising sensory information as it is coming into our sensory apparatus.
Bots
automated computer programs driven by artificial intelligence.
Brahman
the Hindu belief in the ultimate reality underlying all phenomena.
Cognitive Bias
a systematic error in thinking that occurs when people are processing and interpreting information in the world around them, affecting the decisions and judgments that they make.
Coherence Theory of Truth
associated with IDEALISM stating that the truth of a belief is based on the degree to which it coheres/aligns with all other beliefs in a system of beliefs; this suggests perception, not materialism, is reality.
Conformity
the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours to group norms, politics or being like-minded. Norms are implicit, specific rules, shared by a group of individuals, that guide their interactions with others.
Consensus Theory of Truth
the theory of believing a statement to be true because the general population believes it to be so.
Conspiracy Theory
a belief that the common explanation for some event or some state of affairs is not true, and that, in reality, some actors (individuals or organisations) are responsible for that event or state of affairs in order to deceive the public.
Contingent Identity
the ideas that personal identity is dependent on context, i.e. we are defined in relation to the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Correspondence Theory of Truth
states that the truth or falsity of a statement is determined only by how it relates to the world and whether it accurately describes, or corresponds, with that world.
Deduction
in logic, a conclusion derived from a logical or reasonable inference. An inference is deductively valid if its conclusion follows logically from its premises, i.e. if it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false.
Disinformation
intentionally false or incorrect information
Double Conciousness
Dubois’s theory about the sense of internal conflict with identity because of an oppressive environment and cultural paradigms through which one might conceive of themself.
Dualism
proposes the existence of distinct realms of mind and body (or matter).
Echo Chamber
a space in which sound reverberates, so any sounds made are repeated over and over as they bounce from the walls; a metaphor for the narrowing effect created by a knowledge tribe reflecting its own values and beliefs.
Egocentric Predicament
the problem of not being able to view reality outside of our own perceptions, creating a centring effect/illusion that one is at the centre of reality
Empiricism
a school of thought that claims sensory experience as the essential source of knowing.
Epistomology
the study of the nature, origin, and scope of knowledge, epistemic justification, the rationality of belief, and various related issues.
Essential and Accidental Properties
essential properties are properties that objects must have to be classified as that object, whereas accidental properties are properties that objects have, but are still classified as that object even if those properties are lost.
Factual and Propositional Knowledge
the collection of claims about the world that we believe to be true.
Fake News
false, often sensational stories presented as genuine news items, spread under the guise of reporting.
Fatalism
the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable.
Fungibility
the ability of a thing being able to be interchanged with another thing of similar type.
Gettier Case
instances where there is a justified true belief, in which the justification is flawed, but the belief is true nonetheless as a matter of luck.
Global Doubt
the view that one cannot know anything at all; therefore, everything is subject to doubt.
Gnosticism
a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. It proposes that human beings contain a piece of God (the highest good or a “divine spark”) within themselves, which has fallen from the immaterial world into the bodies of humans, which are temporary.
Hume’s Fork
David Hume’s epistemological theory that all concepts are divisible into two distinct categories: ‘relations of ideas’ and ‘matters of fact’, and that genuine knowledge may only be derived from those concepts identified as the latter.
Hyperreality
Baudrillard’s idea that it is difficult or impossible to distinguish between reality and representations of reality in the postmodern world; the effect of simulacra and simulation.
Idealism
the metaphysical view that associates reality to ideas in the mind rather than to material objects.
Identity
the defining values, beliefs, morals, experiences, memories, and personal identifiers of one’s self.
Inattentional Blindness
failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.
Induction
a method of reasoning in logic, in which a body of observations is considered to derive a general principle. It consists of making broad generalisations/conclusions based on specific observations.
Intersectionality
the framework of social categories that define an individual (race, class, gender, etc.).
Justified True Belief (JTB Theory)
Plato’s theory that knowledge is equivalent to a justified belief that is true.
Knowledge by Acquaintance
occurs when the subject has an immediate, first-hand awareness of some propositional truth.