Earlier in our article here, we asked what is philosophy and we talked about the foundations of this discipline, which has been one of the greatest efforts of people throughout history. Philosophy, which is also defined as an art of thought, has many different sub-branches. One of these sub-branches is epistemology or the philosophy of knowledge as we know it. It works on knowledge under the name of epistemology, and more importantly, it asks questions about what knowledge is.
The acceptance and naming of epistemology as a sub-branch did not occur in the distant past, but even when we look at the philosophers of the ancient period, we see that all of them always have a certain level of epistemological concern. Why shouldn’t they carry it, isn’t knowledge everything? Let’s examine in detail the questions such as what is epistemology, which is the sub-branch of philosophy, which has been asking these questions for a long time and has been working on it, which questions it asks, and in which areas it makes inquiries.
What is information philosophy? Founder, features and topics:
In its most basic definition, what is the philosophy of knowledge?
Before going into details about epistemology, that is, the philosophy of knowledge, it is useful to make a basic definition to create a framework in your mind. Philosophy of knowledge; It is one of the sub-branches of philosophy that asks, examines and studies questions about the nature, origin, scope, justification, relationship with belief and similar issues of knowledge.
Etymological origin of epistemology:
Even if we translate it into our language as philosophy of knowledge, epistemology is generally referred to as epistemology. This word, of course, is of Ancient Greek origin. It has emerged by combining the ancient Greek episteme meaning knowledge and logia meaning logical discourse. The word logia is derived from the word logos, which means discourse.
Its use as epistemology was first realized in an article published by the German writer Jean Paul in 1847. In 1854, Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier was the first to use the word in accordance with philosophical literature. Since the 20th century, epistemology has gained the meaning we now know.
Who is the founder of the philosophy of knowledge? Here are the most important names:
- Immanuel Kant
As in philosophy itself and in many sub-branches, it will be difficult to talk about a definite beginning date or founder of epistemology. If we are talking about an epistemological concern, thoughts on knowledge and a questioning on this subject, Plato’s Republic work and some works of Aristotle are among the first examples we come across.
The foundations of the philosophy of knowledge were laid in the schools of the skepticism movement that emerged in the Hellenistic period. In the current of skepticism that started with philosophers such as Pyrrho and Sextus Empiricus, questions were asked and studies were carried out by approaching information with suspicion throughout the process that continued with Carneades and Arcesilaus. We see the skepticism that came with a similar trend in the early Buddhism period of ancient India.
When we come to the Middle Ages, this skepticism has taken on an epistemological structure. In this period, philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham focused on epistemological questions. In the 12th century, Islamic philosophers such as Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali also reflected epistemological concerns in many of their works.
The prominence of the philosophy of knowledge occurred with the conflict of two philosophical currents. During the endless disputes between empiricists such as Francis Bacon, John Locke, David Hume and George Berkeley and rationalists such as Rene Descartes and Baruch Spinoza, the questions asked and the examinations made on whether knowledge comes from experience or because of our reasoning enabled the philosophy of knowledge to come to the fore. Towards the end of the 18th century, Immanuel Kant was the leading figure in this debate and, according to many experts, the solver.
Some of the basic concepts and topics in the philosophy of knowledge are:
- Information
- Belief
- Real
- internalism and externalism
Information:
Knowledge is the most basic concept of the philosophy of knowledge and all discussions are related to this concept. Three basic knowledge distinctions are made as knowing the correctness of the propositions, knowing how to do it, and knowing by recognizing. One of the most important distinctions made on knowledge in the philosophy of knowledge is the idea that knowledge is divided into a priori knowledge and a posteriori knowledge.
- A priori knowledge is knowledge known through anything independent of experience.
- A posteriori knowledge is knowledge gained through experience.
Belief:
One of the most emphasized concepts in the philosophy of knowledge is belief. Belief is one’s attitude towards anything that one considers to be true. According to contemporary philosophers, belief is based on the tendency to act as if certain things are true and mental states that perform certain functions. Belief is a concept that many sub-branches other than epistemology also focus on.
Real:
One of the most basic concepts that the philosophy of knowledge focuses on is the truth. According to many opinions, the truth is; It is at a point independent of language, thought and mind. The fact that it is a fact is essential to any discussion. The relationship between belief and truth and between knowledge and reality are the most intensely debated topics in epistemology. In these discussions, even the disciplines of philosophy and logic experience divergences and intersections.
Internalism and externalism:
Internalism and externalism are considered the most important part of the justification process of all these concepts. Externalists argue that acquired knowledge can be justified outside of the psychological state. Internalists, on the other hand, argue that the psychological states of those who acquire knowledge and the conditions that give information are intertwined and even inseparable.
Four main discussion areas of epistemology:
- Conditions of justification and reality necessary for a belief to reveal knowledge
- Sources of knowledge and belief, such as perception, reason, memory, and testimony
- Should each of the justified beliefs derive from the same source or from a single source?
- Whether philosophical skepticism and similar inquiries pose a threat
Fundamental questions of the philosophy of knowledge:
- What is information?
- What is the source of the information?
- What is the value of information?
- Is there correct information?
- What is the limit of knowledge?
- What is the method of knowledge?
- What can man know?
Some of the schools of thought of epistemology:
- Empiricism, which argues that knowledge is acquired through experience.
- Rationalism, which argues that knowledge can be obtained through reason.
- Skepticism that questions the possibility of human knowledge.
- Pyronism, which argues that beliefs are not certain.
- Cartesian, which assumes that the perception of reality can be controlled by an outside force.
- Pragmatism, which argues that action has an important role in knowledge.
- Naturalized epistemology that considers the evolutionary role of knowledge.
- Epistemic relativity, which argues that reality will vary between individuals.
- Epistemic constructivism, which argues that there can be no objective discovery of an objective truth.
- Epistemic idealism, which holds that everything we know can be reduced to phenomena.
- Bayesian epistemology, which argues that beliefs can be subjective possibilities.
We talked about the important details you need to know about this field through the question of epistemology, which is the sub-branch of philosophy that asks questions and studies on knowledge. You can share your thoughts on the philosophy of knowledge and questions in the comments.
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