The Philosophy of Epistemology

The Philosophy of Epistemology

Epistemology is one of the five recognized branches of philosophy. The way that epistemology differs from the other branches is that it is the “study of knowledge” (Chaffee, 2013, p. 31) and ultimately the reasoning behind the things we, as a greater population, believe to be true. A primary goal of epistemology is to differentiate between knowledge and belief with facts and evidence. The way that epistemology differs from some of its relative branches, such as metaphysics and ethics, is that it is based solely on conclusions that can be scientifically proven, unlike the other philosophy branches that are based more on belief and morals. Epistemology engrosses all aspects of knowledge and the idea that knowledge is an idea that is always evolving and differs within cults.

A common question many philosophers may ask in an attempt to better comprehend the epistemology branch is “what is truth?” The question alone engulfs what philosophers throughout the centuries have based their philosophic studies from. Plato, the acclaimed Classical Greek philosopher, is typically the philosopher accredited to the study and proclamation of epistemology, as well as Socrates and Descartes in the occasional sense. Epistemology, or “the study of knowledge and methods” coming from the Greek word episteme essentially meaning ‘knowledge or science’, is a topic that has been mulled over since roughly 500 B.C. One of the more recognizable theories of epistemology is the “Theory of Truth”. The Theory of Truth expresses the basic idea of justification; all things should be justifiable through science. This theory is often identified with theory of metaphysical realism, and while the two have similar aspects, they differ in the way that they are justified. Other theories include Correspondence Theory, the Theory of Knowledge, and the Theory of Epistemic Justification.

“Epistemology is, broadly speaking, the study of what knowledge is and how one...