To Recap: Epistemology is the field of philosophy concerned with knowledge. How do we know what we know? How do we acquire knowledge? How can we tell truth from lies, reality from fiction?
Plato believes that our senses can fool us. He categorized the things we know into four categories. The most basic (impure) form of knowledge, he believed came from our imagination. (example: we can imagine seeing a unicorn, however, that does not mean that unicorns exist). The next form of knowledge is knowledge gained from the senses. This is also prone to deception (illusions, deception, subjectivity, etc). The first "true" form of knowledge is that gained from reason (all triangles have three sides, 3 + 3 = 6, etc). The final form of knowledge exists when one can interpret and know everything through pure reason, a state he called "The Good".
Plato believed that everything in the physical world had a counterpart in the "World of Forms". There may be many chairs, but there exists only one, true, 'pure' chair, and that is from the world of forms. This alternate world, Plato believed, was where one's soul came from, and would ultimately return to. Think of the "World of Forms" as Heaven.
Looking forward: Look up information on Aristotle's Epistemology. Here are two links:
- http://science.jrank.org/pages/9174/Epistemology-Ancient-Aristotle.html
- http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/Arstotle.htm
Aristotle believed that one must rely on the senses in order to gain new information. Think of the scientific method, and how observations are made in science – that's Aristotle's method of gaining knowledge. He believed that reason alone could not provide one with true knowledge. This sparked off a divide, from Rationalism (Plato, reason) to Empiricism (Aristotle, senses).
While looking through information, think about the following questions for Wednesday.
- How can we gain new knowledge?
- How do we know what we know is true/real?
- What are the limits of our knowledge?
