On Epistemology and Skepticism Essay - 1687 Words

Epistemology is purposed with discovering and studying what knowledge is and how we can classify what we know, how we know it, and provide some type of framework for how we arrived at this conclusion. In the journey to identify what knowledge is the certainty principle was one of the first concepts that I learned that explained how we, as humans, consider ourselves to know something. The certainty concept suggests that knowledge requires evidence that is sufficient to rule out the possibility of error. This concept is exemplified in cases like The Gettier problem in the instance that we suppose (S) someone to know (P) a particular proposition. As Gettier established the Justified True Belief as a conceptual formula for knowledge, certainty†¦show more content†¦Skepticism in general says that we do not know many propositions about the external world that we naturally take ourselves to know. Descartes affirms skepticism by analyzing beliefs as knowledge. Meditations seeks to f ind a solution to the notion of if one doubts a belief, can it be considered knowledge? Descartes first submits that it is not necessary to show all beliefs are false to satisfy the knowledge condition. He adds that if in each belief there is doubt that we can conclude that all things that we believe can be considered false knowledge. He seeks to prove this by setting a precondition that we cannot critique all beliefs, just the ones that govern our life or that serve as a broad component of belief. Descartes then provides context to where beliefs come from and states that beliefs are created from senses or through senses. He then states that senses are false because they are deceptive and shouldn’t be trusted which is the first cause of being able to doubt a belief. This idea in my opinion is the argument of Reality vs. Virtually, which is what we encounter through our experiences vs. what we dream about. The question posed is that we doubt our beliefs because we do not know if what we perceive from our senses is true. The example provided in the Meditations text dealt with imagination and the Dream world concept. If I perceive something in theShow MoreRelatedEpistemology Paper1080 Words   |  5 PagesEpistemology Schools Paper Arika Boyd PHL/215 Dixie Hoyt 09/15/09 Epistemology or theory of knowledge is a branch of philosophy related to the scope and nature of knowledge. The subject focuses on examining the nature of knowledge, and how it relates to beliefs, justification, and truth. Epistemology contract with the means of production of knowledge, as well as skepticism about different knowledge claims. The question is what does people Know? The core of this questions andRead MorePhi 208 Final Paper1104 Words   |  5 PagesEthics and Moral Reasoning (GTP1306D) Michele  Clearman-Warner 03/12/13 Epistemology or theory of knowledge is a branch of philosophy related to the scope and nature of knowledge. The subject focuses on examining the nature of knowledge, and how it relates to beliefs, justification, and truth. Epistemology contract with the means of production of knowledge, as well as skepticism about different knowledge claims. â€Å"Epistemology is the philosophical investigation into this question: What can we knowRead MoreMore on the Problem of the External World887 Words   |  4 Pageswe already know something, namely that if we don’t know then we know that we don’t know. In Hank Hanegraaff’s words, â€Å"Even those who deny reality look both ways before they cross the street. lt;http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Arguments-Against-Skepticism/108446gt;. There is a lot yet to be known but we already know that, and all we knew before knowing something we did not. Maybe there is not a problem of the external world in the first place, and consideri ng that we don’t know about it as a possibilityRead MoreGothic Epistemology746 Words   |  3 Pages requiring characters to excavate obscure source material such as letters, books, portraits, wills, and the like in order to discover what the Gothic construes as historical truth. In so doing, the Gothic novel proffers a historically oriented epistemology of reading, founded upon the affective possibilities of history writing, which challenges the considerations of truth and accuracy that inform traditional historiography. By investigating the emotional resonances of historical narratives, theRead MoreEpistemology : Empiricism And Rationalism Essay1505 Words   |  7 Pagesbranch of philosophy has become committed to focusing on this topic alone. Epistemology is the study of questions regarding knowledge, how we can prove knowledge, and whether or not as humans we have any limit to the amount of knowledge we can obtain. Skepticism is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as â€Å"the doctrine that true knowledge or knowledge in a particular area is uncertain;† therefore, it falls under the study of epistemology. In my personal opinion, the idea of being skeptic or unsure of a worldRead MorePhilosophers and Epistemological Skepticism1245 Words   |  5 PagesAbstract People wonder how they, and others, know what they know. There is a skepticism about accepting that there are inherent pieces of knowledge that people simply possess, that there is no such thing as true knowledge because it is so personal, that there is no way to prove what is truly right or wrong. This paper considers the views of Chuang Tzu and Roderick Chisholm, how their ideas should be researched further in order for leaders to address sharing knowledge with their followers. ScholarsRead MoreThe Philosophy Of Pessimism And Skepticism1328 Words   |  6 Pagesthink we know, also known as skepticism. In this paper I will argue that skepticism is the best way to know things for certain because it acknowledges the presence of cognitive dissonance, self-justification and the things we can learn by questioning. I will proceed as follows: I will outline the concepts of skepticism, according to Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, and the concepts of rationalism, according to Renà © D escartes. Then, I will compare rationalism and skepticism by explaining how challengingRead MoreUnderstanding The World Through The Study Of Knowledge1862 Words   |  8 Pagesthoroughly known as Epistemology, is the realm of philosophy that studies the sources, nature, limitations, and rationality of knowledge. The most incisive expression of disapproval of naturalistic approaches to epistemology is that they are incapable of effectively dealing with standards and inquiries of justification. Epistemology without such norms, is supposed to be an endeavor not worth achieving. (Stroud,Alemder). What one induces of this is depends on whether epistemology is worth doing at allRead More Skepticism Essays1139 Words   |  5 PagesSkepticism Skepticism is the Western philosophical tradition that maintains that human beings can never arrive at any kind of certain knowledge. Originating in Greece in the middle of the fourth century BC, skepticism and its derivatives are based on the following principles: There is no such thing as certainty in human knowledge. All human knowledge is only probably true, that is, true most of the time, or not true. Several non-Western cultures have skeptical traditions, particularlyRead MoreGlobal Epistemological Skepticism Essay1132 Words   |  5 Pages Epistemological skepticism is the idea that individuals lack knowledge or justification for a specific group of propositions (Barnett, 2014). Skepticism with respect to all propositions is known as global skepticism, and it reveals that knowledge is nonexistent (2014). The regress problem is a difficulty in epistemology, where an idea has to be justified, because the justification itself has to have further reasoning (2014). The infinite regress argument concludes that individuals lack justification