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Sandra LaFave
We now begin our study of two major areas of philosophy: epistemology and metaphysics (ontology). This study will take six or seven weeks and encompass Quizzes 3 through 8. Chapters 2-6 of Palmer address issues of epistemology and metaphysics. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that investigates the nature, source, and limits of KNOWLEDGE. You can easily figure out what "epistemology" means if you know a little Greek. "Episteme" is the Greek word for "knowledge," and you already know what logos means. The following are all typical epistemological questions:
Look at the words in the chapter titles for Chapters 2 and 3. Chapter 2 concerns rationalist epistemology. The next file you will read in this Study Guide (or for online students, the next file that will appear in Angel) focusses on rationalist epistemology. Rationalism in epistemology is the view that knowledge does not come from the senses. According to rationalists, the paradigm of knowledge is mathematics. Rationalists say knowledge comes primarily or solely from reason, or from intuition, or that we possess it innately (from birth). Chapter 2 mainly discusses Plato and Descartes. Find Plato and Descartes on the Chronological List of Western Philosophers. When did they live? Chapter 3 concerns empiricist epistemology. Empiricism in epistemology is the view that knowledge does come primarily or solely from the senses. Chapter 3 mainly discusses Aristotle, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. When did those philosophers live? The terms "rationalism" and "empiricism" in philosophy refer primarily to movements in modern philosophy. When was that? You remember from Chapter 1 that metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that investigates the general nature of being or reality, especially the being of the sensible world, God, freedom, and souls. The word "metaphysics" is usually synonymous with the word "ontology." Palmer (the author of your text Looking at Philosophy), however, makes a distinction between metaphysics and ontology. He defines metaphysics as "the branch of philosophy that attempts to construct a general, speculative worldview; a complete, systematic account of all reality and experience, usually involving an epistemology, an ontology, an ethics, and an aesthetics." (From Donald Palmer, Looking at Philosophy, p. 410) This difference in usage is not a big deal. Philosophers don't worry about it; they understand what you're getting at, whether you call it "metaphysics" or "ontology." The following are all metaphysical (or ontological) questions:
Chapter 4 concerns one particular issue in metaphysics: what sort of reality is mind or consciousness? This is a current "hot" issue in metaphysics, because of investigations in cognitive science and artificial intelligence. For example, some people argue that a robot could never "really" be conscious. They assume robots necessarily lack something people have -- that there is something people have that is special and perhaps unique. So the metaphysical question in this debate is: what (if anything) do the "really conscious" beings have that the robots lack? Chapter 5 in Palmer concerns the metaphysical question of the existence of God. Chapter 6 in Palmer gives the metaphysical debate about the existence of human freedom. Sandy's X10 Host Home Page | Sandy's Google Sites Home Page Questions or comments? sandy_lafave@yahoo.com |