PHILOSOPHY MATRIX-EPISTEMOLOGY

Philosophy Matrix-Epistemology



Philosophy Matrix-Epistemology

Everyone has an epistemology, whether they know it or not. In academic analysis, epistemologies are made explicit as they underlie the rules of knowledge formation. Different epistemologies have different criteria for what constitutes valid knowledge, different definitions of truth, and different priorities in terms of how analysis should be done. Each piece of knowledge can be considered a proposition. Propositions can be sorted (not without remainder) into three epistemic classes: demonstrable propositions (those that can be shown to be true by appeal to logic or fact), defensible propositions (those for which a convincing rational argument can be made), and preferred propositions (those that reflect individual subjective taste and cannot or need not be defended). We hope to win another person's assent to a demonstrable proposition when we can “show” them it is true in a manner that all rational humans will find persuasive. The truth of such statements is given either a posteriori, or as empirically evident to the senses (e.g., “Water runs downhill”), or a priori, that is, by definition and logical deduction (e.g., “A man cannot marry his own widow”).

FIELD

DEFINITION

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

KEY CONTRIBUTORS

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Epistemology

An epistemology is a worldview with a particular set of assumptions, a definition of truth, and priorities concerning what constitute valid and important knowledge.

The development of knowledge shows that knowledge plays an important target precisely the understanding of those aspects of the object that are invariant not only with regard to the "perspectives" changing the subject, but also with regard to the many different external conditions.

There are a variety of post positivist schools of thought, including Marxism, humanistic approaches, and various postmodernist or poststructuralist interpretations, which share certain broad features in common.

Piaget

Gestalt

Socrates was primarily concerned with ethical issues and sought to investigate conceptually the permanent essence of the ...