Philosophy Unit 3

Decartes

"I think, therefore I am?". One of the most important rationalists. He doubted everything that senses told him.

epistemology

- concerned with the analyzing the criteria to knowing things. -is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature, sources, limitations, and validity of knowledge. -It deals specifically with theories of knowledge, systematic efforts to explain the nature and content of thought and to describe the process by which human beings acquire reliable knowledge.

Critisims of Empiricism

-always interpreting facts -that our senses are too limited, so we should not be base an entire theory of knowledge on them. -empiricism would argue that it can't ever give us certainty.

critisicm of rationalism

-different rationalists disagree among themselves on what the basic truths are from with they reason. -Critics would say that Decartes' starting point "himself" doesn't get us very far. It's as if we "smuggle" information in from other sources to make it work. -being too abstract to matter for real life and not take real living into consideration -can't account for change over time.

David Hume

-holds that all knowledge beings with "impressions" (direct sense experiences) and that impressions give rise to "ideas" (copies of impressions) -when we attempt to extend our knowledge beyond impressions and ideas, than we rely on the notion of cause and effect - All we experience is the temporal succession of the two events.

criticism of scientific method

1. rests to heavily on methods of discovery that are too specific 2. science allows for a variety of interpretations of data

3 levels of skeptics

1. those who think that knowledge is beyond reasonable proof 2. those who argue that knowledge is highly uncertain 3. those who think knowledge is impossible

criticisim of zen

1. whether real enlightenment is the goal or not, one can't escape the fact that people are still asking these tough questions 2. the attempt to aquire knowledge has actually produced good results

empiricsim

=experience; we only know things by our experience

empiricists

They only trust their direct experience or the experience who can verify the claim. Depend on: -evidence and observation - need regularity in the world. -depend on resemblance -depend on 5 senses

rationalists

believed that certain knowledge didn't come from their senses or experience, but rather from the realm of the mind.True knowledge is already within us in th form of ideas which we did not have to learn, but rather innate.

justified true belief (JTF)

by Plato -standard definition of knowledge -knowledge requires more than opinions

intuition

claim to know somethng based not on sense, experience, reason or logic, but rather based on this

analytic philosophy

concerned with human language; "What we says matters, and how we use our words matters".

criticism of analytic philosophy

critcs believe it's not connected enoght to the world; never actually get around to saying anything about th world

John Locke

father of empiricism. -rejects Decartes' rationalist doctrine that the mind is furnished with innate ideas. -claims that the mind is originally blank -all of our ideas come from experiencing external objects or from experiencing the operations of our mind. -2 kinds of qualities that objects cause us to experience 1) primary qualities - really exist in things (3 dimensional and shape) and 2) secondary qualities - do not exist in things but are only in our mind Ex. Color and taste

1st level of skepticism-Socarates

he questioned things by saying that we should question our answers (angnosticism)

3rd level of skepticism

is dogomatically opposed to any claim to know anything

scientifc method

originated by Francis Bacon 1.Begin with a question or problem 2.collect date 3.organize the data 4.form a hypothesis 5.deductions from the hypothesis 6.test to verify or overturn my hypothesis

feminist epistemology

questioned JTF, instead asked "Can we have knowledge?"; believe humans, real people make judgements about what information means.

Rationalism

rationalists want knowledge that is absolute and certain. Propositions are certain and work toward a logical conclusion. -some things are just "true" no matter what we think

true knowledge

requires a good reason for believing. Something to warrant.

existentialism

says that humans can only know that the exist. -What humans think they know isn't real knowledge -Truth is what I affirm it to be

skepticism

the fundamental distrust of or indifference to the whole task epistemology; believe will never deliver certain or dependable knowledge

zen

to achieve enlightenment -try to "know" using our senses or reasoning

Plato's "Forms"

ulitmately real things that are just images or representations. Rationalists will say through rational though and diaglouge we will uncover these

revelation

view of knowledge says that we can know what is revealed to us, whethr or not it's reasonable or corresponds to our senses.

authoritarianism

view that says that knowledge is possessed by someone outside th puzzled individual. It can be church, state, family, culture or whatever. Expert is the source of knowledge. The source of knowledge is important rather than how it attained.

2nd level of skepticism - Kant

we can only know what experience, not things as they actually are apartfrom our perceptions (phenomenalism)