Epistemology

The Study of Epistemology

PHI 200

April 14, 2013

The Study of Epistemology

Epistemology, as it exists today, is a branch of philosophy that studies human knowledge in an attempt to distinguish what is known to be true from what is known to be false. In other words, Epistemology seeks to separate adequate knowledge from the inadequate. Epistemology is the area of philosophy that investigates the nature, sources, limitations, and validity of knowledge. The best way to describe the study of epistemology is through the lenses of coherence, emotion, and social collaboration.

With knowledge, our society may be able to associate a certain aspect or detail with an object, but that does not necessarily mean it will always happen. I believed that all information about the world comes through experience. The contents of consciousness are perceptions that include our original experiences, impressions, and sense of data. The contents of our memories and imagination include an internal mental world composed of our psychological experiences.

I believe knowledge is possible through experience; through real experiences, sense data, psychological experiences and ideas. We may have many ideas about many things, but our thoughts and ideas cannot be considered with certainty. Basically, there is no way to be certain of the world around us, as it may change.

Within the category of coherence, let’s talk about knowledge that comes from common sense. This is my favorite subcategory of epistemology. I can say with certainty that if I jump off a tall building, I will have a very hard landing to the bottom. To test the soundness of my claim, I throw potatoes from the top of the building and observe. Each time the potato fall and violently splatter on the bottom surface. I conclude that if the potato was my body, I would also splatter which would end in a violent death. I can also say with certainty that Utah is northeast of San Diego. If Utah is northeast of Las Vegas, and Las...