Epistemology…
Estudia: Okay, Phi, now that we are clear on metaphysics I think we can move on, or is there more to explore on the topic?
Philo: On metaphysics, no. Yes, I mean no there isn’t anything else to discover about the fact that existence exists and the corollaries derived from that. You exist with consciousness… A is A ... Causality. No you’ve got it all if you have understood what we have been discussing so far.
Estudia: Well, I think I do. No I’m sure of it, it’s just so hard for me to retain. Everything you said is logical and all that, but I can’t seem to just expound about it without looking over your lectures and my notes. Why is that?
Philo: It’s just that you haven’t talked about it enough or written about it. Keep going over the material and you’ll learn it soon enough. You do have to use it. You are trying to gain knowledge and you need to know the nature and means of gaining human knowledge. That is a science and it is called epistemology.
Estudia: How to you study knowledge? I mean, what you know is knowledge and any idea would count wouldn’t it?
Philo: Epistemology is a study of the means of gaining knowledge and of its limits. You again have to start somewhere and the basic premise of epistemology is that we can acquire knowledge only if we do certain things. You can’t just accept ideas at random even if you read them on the internet or in a text book and count those ideas as knowledge. You have to perform certain definite processes in order to acquire knowledge.
Estudia: Why not? Why can’t I count things I read as knowledge?
Philo: First, you have to realize that anything you learn about is something in reality. Knowledge is knowledge of existence in other words. Your mind has to conform to or follow the rules of existence because existence has primacy over consciousness. Remember it comes first.
Estudia: Existence, right?
Philo: Right. If your mind could create reality by just thinking, you wouldn’t need epistemology. You could just think and reality would obey. Second, you are human and possess a different type of consciousness than any animal. You don’t just know things by direct perception like a dog, but you can conceptualize and the formation of concepts is not automatic or infallible. You have to take sensory data, the input from your senses, and do something with it to form concepts. But in order to do that and know that the conclusions you reach are valid, you must discover a way of thinking. If you have the correct rules for using your mind, you can reach conclusions and validate them. That way you’ll know how you know something is so.
Estudia: And epistemology will do that for us?
Philo: Absolutely.
Estudia: So how do we get started?
Philo: Well, before we can study conceptual knowledge, we must be sure our sense perception is correct and that we are free to use our minds. You see, if we hold that concepts are an integration of sense experience, we must be sure the senses are valid. You don’t have any automatic ideas, or instincts that let you form ideas about reality. You are born with a consciousness that works, but which has no content. You have to derive everything from the evidence of your senses. That’s why we have to study it first. We must know what is the precise role of the senses in human knowledge and if they are valid.
Estudia: I can see that if my senses aren’t valid, then I could be misled by them and might make an error in learning. But … I CAN be misled by them. Seeing is believing but sometimes what you see is an illusion or a trick or distorted in some way.
Philo: We’ll handle that, but what I mean is that if what your senses detect is wrong then thinking is worthless as well.
Estudia: Oh.
Philo: Also, we must establish that the conceptual level is not automatic. Any philosopher would have to define what their philosophy states as far as our power of volition. Can we think and do it freely or do we not have a choice in the regards to the use of our consciousness. If we don’t have a choice, or things are determined for us then we couldn’t discuss how we should use our minds. There wouldn’t be any normal acceptable way to think. We’d just know and have no choice in the matter.
Estudia: So we have to explore sense perception and volition before we start, right.
Philo: ¡Exactemente! Más tarde. ¡Hasta luego!
Estudia: Buenas.
Philo: On metaphysics, no. Yes, I mean no there isn’t anything else to discover about the fact that existence exists and the corollaries derived from that. You exist with consciousness… A is A ... Causality. No you’ve got it all if you have understood what we have been discussing so far.
Estudia: Well, I think I do. No I’m sure of it, it’s just so hard for me to retain. Everything you said is logical and all that, but I can’t seem to just expound about it without looking over your lectures and my notes. Why is that?
Philo: It’s just that you haven’t talked about it enough or written about it. Keep going over the material and you’ll learn it soon enough. You do have to use it. You are trying to gain knowledge and you need to know the nature and means of gaining human knowledge. That is a science and it is called epistemology.
Estudia: How to you study knowledge? I mean, what you know is knowledge and any idea would count wouldn’t it?
Philo: Epistemology is a study of the means of gaining knowledge and of its limits. You again have to start somewhere and the basic premise of epistemology is that we can acquire knowledge only if we do certain things. You can’t just accept ideas at random even if you read them on the internet or in a text book and count those ideas as knowledge. You have to perform certain definite processes in order to acquire knowledge.
Estudia: Why not? Why can’t I count things I read as knowledge?
Philo: First, you have to realize that anything you learn about is something in reality. Knowledge is knowledge of existence in other words. Your mind has to conform to or follow the rules of existence because existence has primacy over consciousness. Remember it comes first.
Estudia: Existence, right?
Philo: Right. If your mind could create reality by just thinking, you wouldn’t need epistemology. You could just think and reality would obey. Second, you are human and possess a different type of consciousness than any animal. You don’t just know things by direct perception like a dog, but you can conceptualize and the formation of concepts is not automatic or infallible. You have to take sensory data, the input from your senses, and do something with it to form concepts. But in order to do that and know that the conclusions you reach are valid, you must discover a way of thinking. If you have the correct rules for using your mind, you can reach conclusions and validate them. That way you’ll know how you know something is so.
Estudia: And epistemology will do that for us?
Philo: Absolutely.
Estudia: So how do we get started?
Philo: Well, before we can study conceptual knowledge, we must be sure our sense perception is correct and that we are free to use our minds. You see, if we hold that concepts are an integration of sense experience, we must be sure the senses are valid. You don’t have any automatic ideas, or instincts that let you form ideas about reality. You are born with a consciousness that works, but which has no content. You have to derive everything from the evidence of your senses. That’s why we have to study it first. We must know what is the precise role of the senses in human knowledge and if they are valid.
Estudia: I can see that if my senses aren’t valid, then I could be misled by them and might make an error in learning. But … I CAN be misled by them. Seeing is believing but sometimes what you see is an illusion or a trick or distorted in some way.
Philo: We’ll handle that, but what I mean is that if what your senses detect is wrong then thinking is worthless as well.
Estudia: Oh.
Philo: Also, we must establish that the conceptual level is not automatic. Any philosopher would have to define what their philosophy states as far as our power of volition. Can we think and do it freely or do we not have a choice in the regards to the use of our consciousness. If we don’t have a choice, or things are determined for us then we couldn’t discuss how we should use our minds. There wouldn’t be any normal acceptable way to think. We’d just know and have no choice in the matter.
Estudia: So we have to explore sense perception and volition before we start, right.
Philo: ¡Exactemente! Más tarde. ¡Hasta luego!
Estudia: Buenas.
posted by Rp | 4:27 AM
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