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Epistemology

Epistemology. What is knowledge? and How do we know things?. “Knowledge”. We use the word all the time. We seem to have a shared understanding of what it means. Yet, it is difficult to actually define it. How do you think about “knowledge”?.

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Epistemology

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  1. Epistemology What is knowledge? and How do we know things?

  2. “Knowledge” • We use the word all the time. • We seem to have a shared understanding of what it means. • Yet, it is difficult to actually define it. How do you think about “knowledge”?

  3. “Knowledge” could be considered somethingIn the Mind

  4. “Knowledge” could be consideredMultidimensional and Complicated

  5. “Knowledge” could be consideredAbstract and Mysterious

  6. “Knowledge” could be consideredConfusing

  7. Knowledge is all these things… In the Mind Complex Confusing Abstract

  8. But, We can try to simplify it !

  9. Many Philosophers Say… Knowledge is “Justified True Beliefs” or JTB

  10. Knowledge is Things you believe that you can justify that are true

  11. 3 Alternative Views of “Truth” • Truth is Objective • Truth is Subjective • Truth is Relative • relative to some system of justification • relative to some social group

  12. Knowledge is Things you believe that you can justify that are true Statements that you believe that you can justify within some system of justification to the satisfaction of most people who operate within that system.

  13. Examples of Knowledge Statements 1. There are 30 students enrolled in HCOM 301-02. 2. Bill Clinton was the first president of the United States. 3. God is present in all living things. 4. Acting with kindness will increase the chances that a person will receive kindness from others. 5. Men make better leaders than women. 6. The air we breathe is 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, and 1.05% other gases. 7. Abortion is murder. 8. In 1531, on a hilltop outside Mexico City, Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to farmer Juan Diego. 9. The U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq was good for the Iraqi people. 10. Some 150,000 to 200,000 years ago, the human species evolved into being from lower life forms.

  14. Clearly, these are all expressed beliefs or knowledge statements • But, how do we determine if they are “true”? • What methods are available to justify or support, or to disprove, the truthfulness of expressed beliefs or knowledge statements?

  15. Introducing Epistemology Well, it shouldn’t surprise us that there are many alternative and competing methods for determining the truthfulness of our beliefs or knowledge. That is why we say that there are multiple “Ways of Knowing”. The study of these alternative ways of knowing is called Epistemology.

  16. Alternative “Ways of Knowing” Essentially, are different ways of searching for understanding and truth, And, that use different methods or systems for justifying or supporting their claims to knowledge (i.e., different epistemologies)

  17. Some are distinct, and have nothing in common with others Some are similar to others, having both common features and differences Alternative Epistemologies

  18. Some Epistemologies We Will Explore • Rationalism/Reason/Logic • Empiricism/Experience/Science • Religion/Revelation/Faith • Intuition • Spiritualism • Social Constructionism • Occultism • Skepticism

  19. Assignment on 2-5

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