reason as a source of knowledge key words Flashcards
epistemology
A posteriori
Knowledge that is gained from experience of the world
A priori
Knowledge that is gained via human reason
Abductive argument
Taking an effect and arguing for the most likely cause.
Analytic truth
A proposition that is true by virtue of the meaning of the words e.g. ‘the
bachelor is unmarried’ or ‘triangles have 3 sides’. Denying an analytic truth
leads to a logical contradiction – a 4-sided triangle just doesn’t make sense.
Clear and distinct ideas
The basic or self-justifying beliefs that Descartes hopes to use as foundations
for his system of knowledge
Contingent truth
Something that is true but might not have been true. E.g. Paris is the capital of
France, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
Deduction
The ability to infer what must follow from other facts
Deductive argument
An argument where the truth of the conclusion is guaranteed by the truth of
the premises. For example, P1 - it rains on Thursdays, P2 - today is a Thursday, C
- It will rain today
Empiricism
The view that there is no such thing as innate knowledge, all propositional
knowledge is acquired after we are born (anti-innatism) and a posteriori (anti rationalism)
Hume’s Fork
David Hume’s claim that there are only two types of concept: matters of fact
and relations of ideas
Inductive argument
An argument where the truth of the conclusion is not fully guaranteed by the
truth of the premises; moves from a specific example to a generalisation, or
from past to future
Innatism
The view that there is some propositional knowledge that we are born with.
Intuition
The ability to know something is true just by thinking about it
Matters of fact
Facts and generalisations about the world that we know through experience (a
posteriori). The opposite is conceivable. Synthetic truths.
Necessary truth
Something that must be true (in all possible worlds). E.g. 1+1 = 2
Predicate
The part of a proposition which tells you something about the subject. The
properties it is claimed that the subject has.
Rationalism
The view that there are some synthetic truths that can be known purely
through a priori means.
Relations of ideas
Things we can know by reason (a priori), they are true by definition and the
opposite is not conceivable e.g. ‘all bachelors are unmarried’. Analytic truths.
Subject
What or whom the proposition is about
Synthetic truth
A proposition that is true by virtue of how the world is e.g. ‘grass is green’ or
‘water boils at 100 degrees’. Denying a synthetic truth does not lead to a logical
contradiction. The idea of red grass makes sense, even if it is not how the world
is.
