EPISTEMOLOGY

INTRODUCTION:
Basically epistemology came from the Greek word ‘Episteme’ meaning knowledge and which is
the term firstly used by Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier. This is a branch of
philosophy which is concerned with nature and scope of knowledge. The word episteme meaning
"knowledge" and ‘logos’ meaning "study of".

Epistemology is the study of knowledge and justified belief. As the study of knowledge,
epistemology is concerned with the following questions: What are the necessary and sufficient
conditions of knowledge? What are its sources? What is its structure, and what are its limits? As
the study of justified belief, epistemology aims to answer questions such as: How we are to
understand the concept of justification? What makes justified beliefs justified? Is justification
internal or external to one's own mind? Understood more broadly, epistemology is about
issues having to do with the creation and dissemination of knowledge in particular areas of
inquiry.

Epistemology is the investigation into the grounds and nature of knowledge itself. The study of
epistemology focuses on our means for acquiring knowledge and how we can differentiate
between truth and falsehood. Modern epistemology generally involves a debate between
rationalism and empiricism.

WHY IS EPISTEMOLOGY IMPORTANT?

Epistemology is important because it is fundamental to how we think. Without some means of
understanding how we acquire knowledge, how we rely upon our senses, and how we develop
concepts in our minds, we have no coherent path for our thinking. A sound epistemology is
necessary for the existence of sound thinking and reasoning — this is why so much philosophical
literature can involve seemingly arcane discussions about the nature of knowledge.
Unfortunately, atheists who frequently debate questions that derive from differences in how
people approach knowledge aren't always familiar with this subject.

Questions Asked in Epistemology:

What can we know?
How can we know it?
Why do we know some things, but not others?
How do we acquire knowledge?
Is knowledge possible?
Can knowledge be certain? How can we differentiate truth from falsehood?
Why do we believe certain claims and not others?
WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE?
The traditional approach is that knowledge requires three necessary and sufficient conditions,
so that knowledge can then be defined as "justified true belief"

Truth: For something to count as knowledge, it must actually be true. As Aristotle famously

expressed it: "To say of something which is that it is not, or to say of something which is not that
it is, is false. However, to say of something which is that it is, or of something which is not that it
is not, is true."

Belief: because one cannot know something that one doesn't even believe in, the statement "I
know x, but I don't believe that x is true" is contradictory. Justification:The most contentious
part of all this is the definition of justification, and there are several schools of thought on the
subject:

Reliabilism suggest that either: 1) justification is not necessary for knowledge provided it is

reliably-produced true belief. Yet another school, Infallibilism, holds that a belief must not
only be true and justified, but that the justification of the belief must necessitate its truth, so that
the justification for the belief must be infallible.Another debate focuses on whether justification
is external or internal:

Externalism (meaning outside of the psychological states of those who are gaining the
knowledge) can be conditions of knowledge, so that if the relevant facts justifying a proposition
are external then they are acceptable. Internalism, on the other hand, claims that all knowledge-
yielding conditions are within the psychological states of those who gain knowledge.

As recently as 1963, the American philosopher Edmund Gettier called this traditional theory of

knowledge into question by claiming that there are certain circumstances in which one does not
have knowledge, even when all of the above conditions are met (his Gettier-cases). For
example: Suppose that the clock on campus (which keeps accurate time and is well maintained)
stopped working at 11:56pm last night, and has yet to be repaired. Exactly twelve hours later, I
glance at the clock and form the belief that the time is 11:56. My belief is true, of course, since
the time is indeed 11:56. And my belief is justified, as I have no reason to doubt that the clock is
working, and I cannot be blamed for basing beliefs about the time on what the clock says.
Nonetheless, it seems evident that I do not know that the time is 11:56. After all, if I had walked
past the clock a bit earlier or a bit later, I would have ended up with a false belief rather than a
true one.

How Is Knowledge Acquired?

The nature of this distinction has been disputed by various philosophers; however, the terms may
be roughly defined as follows:
 Priori knowledge is knowledge that is known independently of experience (that is, it is non-
empirical, or arrived at beforehand, usually by reason). It will henceforth be acquired through
anything that is independent from experience.

A posteriori knowledge is knowledge that is known by experience (that is, it is empirical, or

arrived at afterward).

REFERENCES:

1. PLATO.STANFORD.EDU >> AT 9:31PM ( 7.24.2015 )

2. WWW.PHILOSOPHYBASICS.COM >> AT 9:34 (7.24.2015 )
3. AN OUTLINE OF PHILOSOPHY BY DR. ABDUL MATIN >>

ADHUNA PROKASHON