Epistemology in Philosophy
32 Questions
4 Views

Choose a study mode

Play Quiz
Study Flashcards
Spaced Repetition
Chat to lesson

Podcast

Play an AI-generated podcast conversation about this lesson

Questions and Answers

What is epistemology concerned with?

  • The history of philosophy
  • The art of debate
  • The study of human behavior
  • The nature and scope of knowledge (correct)

    • Who were the first philosophers in the Western tradition?

  • The skeptics
  • The Sophists
  • Heraclitus and Parmenides
  • The pre-Socratic philosophers (correct)

    • What did Heraclitus emphasize for knowledge of reality?

  • Role of authority
  • Use of intuition
  • Use of the senses (correct)
  • Role of emotion

    • What did Parmenides stress for knowledge of reality?

    <p>Role of reason</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who was chiefly responsible for the emergence of doubts regarding knowledge of reality in the fifth century BCE?

    <p>The Sophists</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What came under critical examination for the first time during the fifth century BCE?

    <p>Human practices and institutions</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who can be said to be the real originator of epistemology?

    <p>Plato</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Gorgias claim about reality?

    <p>There is no reality</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to Protagoras, what is the measure of all things?

    <p>Man</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What distinction did Democritus draw between properties of things?

    <p>Properties based on human mind and objective properties</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does epistemology differ from psychology?

    <p>Epistemology assesses the grounds for beliefs, psychology gives explanations for beliefs</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the main concern of the Sophists regarding human knowledge?

    <p>The contribution of human mind to knowledge</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to Plato, where is knowledge generally found?

    <p>In reason and logic</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Protagoras believe about appearances?

    <p>Appearances are the only reality</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the main goal behind the beginning of epistemology?

    <p>To justify the claim that knowledge is possible and assess the role of senses and reason in acquiring knowledge</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was Democritus's view on certain properties attributed to things?

    <p>They are a matter of convention and a function of the mind</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the view of empiricism?

    <p>All knowledge is acquired through sense experience</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who are the three major empiricist thinkers discussed?

    <p>David Hume, John Locke, George Berkeley</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Hume's philosophy of mind begin with?

    <p>Asking about the mind and its formation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are the two categories Hume divides our mental representations into?

    <p>Vivid impressions and less vivid ideas</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What distinguishes impressions from ideas in Hume's philosophy?

    <p>Their vividness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What movement in the twentieth century is heavily indebted to Hume's Empiricism?

    <p>Logical Positivism</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is true about memories?

    <p>They are merely faint copies of impressions</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What guides the imagination in generating new ideas from old ideas?

    <p>Resemblance, contiguity, and cause and effect</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does the text describe a priori reasoning?

    <p>It is reasoning independent of experience and reveals logical relations between ideas.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Hume's Empiricism lead to?

    <p>Skepticism about objective moral truths</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Hume aim to do with his rigorous Empiricism?

    <p>Delineate the limits of human knowledge and understanding</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Hume's Empiricism result in, according to the text?

    <p>Skepticism about a great many things</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does a priori reasoning reveal?

    <p>Logical relations between ideas and matters of fact</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the role of imagination apart from generating new ideas?

    <p>It includes our ability to understand things when we reason well in formulating new ideas from old ones.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the association of cause and effect lead to, according to the text?

    <p>Understanding of matters of fact</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does our ability to understand matters of fact depend entirely on, according to the text?

    <p>It depends on a posteriori reasoning</p> Signup and view all the answers

    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

    Studying That Suits You

    Use AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards to suit your learning preferences.

    Quiz Team

    Description

    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.

    More Like This

    Use Quizgecko on...
    Browser
    Open
    Browser
    Browser