32 Questions
What is epistemology concerned with?
The nature and scope of knowledge
Who were the first philosophers in the Western tradition?
The pre-Socratic philosophers
What did Heraclitus emphasize for knowledge of reality?
Use of the senses
What did Parmenides stress for knowledge of reality?
Role of reason
Who was chiefly responsible for the emergence of doubts regarding knowledge of reality in the fifth century BCE?
The Sophists
What came under critical examination for the first time during the fifth century BCE?
Human practices and institutions
Who can be said to be the real originator of epistemology?
Plato
What did Gorgias claim about reality?
There is no reality
According to Protagoras, what is the measure of all things?
Man
What distinction did Democritus draw between properties of things?
Properties based on human mind and objective properties
How does epistemology differ from psychology?
Epistemology assesses the grounds for beliefs, psychology gives explanations for beliefs
What was the main concern of the Sophists regarding human knowledge?
The contribution of human mind to knowledge
According to Plato, where is knowledge generally found?
In reason and logic
What did Protagoras believe about appearances?
Appearances are the only reality
What was the main goal behind the beginning of epistemology?
To justify the claim that knowledge is possible and assess the role of senses and reason in acquiring knowledge
What was Democritus's view on certain properties attributed to things?
They are a matter of convention and a function of the mind
What is the view of empiricism?
All knowledge is acquired through sense experience
Who are the three major empiricist thinkers discussed?
David Hume, John Locke, George Berkeley
What does Hume's philosophy of mind begin with?
Asking about the mind and its formation
What are the two categories Hume divides our mental representations into?
Vivid impressions and less vivid ideas
What distinguishes impressions from ideas in Hume's philosophy?
Their vividness
What movement in the twentieth century is heavily indebted to Hume's Empiricism?
Logical Positivism
Which of the following is true about memories?
They are merely faint copies of impressions
What guides the imagination in generating new ideas from old ideas?
Resemblance, contiguity, and cause and effect
How does the text describe a priori reasoning?
It is reasoning independent of experience and reveals logical relations between ideas.
What does Hume's Empiricism lead to?
Skepticism about objective moral truths
What does Hume aim to do with his rigorous Empiricism?
Delineate the limits of human knowledge and understanding
What does Hume's Empiricism result in, according to the text?
Skepticism about a great many things
What does a priori reasoning reveal?
Logical relations between ideas and matters of fact
What is the role of imagination apart from generating new ideas?
It includes our ability to understand things when we reason well in formulating new ideas from old ones.
What does the association of cause and effect lead to, according to the text?
Understanding of matters of fact
What does our ability to understand matters of fact depend entirely on, according to the text?
It depends on a posteriori reasoning
Study Notes
What is Epistemology?
- Epistemology is concerned with knowledge and how it is acquired
Early Western Philosophers
- The first philosophers in the Western tradition were the pre-Socratics
- Heraclitus emphasized the importance of change and flux for knowledge of reality
- Parmenides stressed the importance of being and unity for knowledge of reality
- The fifth century BCE saw the emergence of doubts regarding knowledge of reality, led by Protagoras
Origin of Epistemology
- Xenophanes is considered the real originator of epistemology
Sophists' View of Knowledge
- Gorgias claimed that reality is uncertain and cannot be known
- According to Protagoras, man is the measure of all things
- Democritus drew a distinction between primary and secondary properties of things
- The Sophists were concerned with human knowledge and its limitations
Plato's View of Knowledge
- According to Plato, knowledge is generally found in the realm of abstract Forms
Empiricism
- Empiricism is a philosophical approach that emphasizes sense experience as the source of knowledge
- The three major empiricist thinkers are Aristotle, Bacon, and Locke
- Hume's philosophy of mind begins with the distinction between impressions and ideas
- Impressions are vivid and lively, while ideas are faint and dull
- Hume's Empiricism leads to skepticism about metaphysics and theology
- The Logical Positivist movement in the twentieth century is heavily indebted to Hume's Empiricism
Memory and Imagination
- Memories are weakened impressions
- The imagination guides the generation of new ideas from old ideas through the association of cause and effect
- A priori reasoning is deductive and concerned with necessary truths
- Our ability to understand matters of fact depends entirely on experience and observation
Explore the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and scope of knowledge, its presuppositions, and the reliability of claims to knowledge. Delve into the historical perspective and the transition from pre-Socratic philosophers to the development of epistemology.
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