WHAT.IS
file what.is.epist 12:40 pm October 16, 1994/7:07 pm February 7, 1992
WHAT IS THE SCIENCE OF EPISTEMOLOGY?
The ancient greek skeptics concluded a long time ago that we can know nothing for certain. Many philosophers before and since have argued about what we can actually know. Epistemology has developed into the area of philosophy that deals with these questions. Truth has been used to solve the problem of what is knowledge by some thinkers however, the problem still remains and becomes circular when we ask the simple question " How do we know that something is true? ". The importance of knowledge to mankind is so great that without it mankind would not exist. In making the previous statement I am writing something that could be true or false. But what knowledge does this statement contain? If it is true does it contain more knowledge than if it were false? If it is false does it contain no knowledge? Or is there a middle ground where they both contain some knowledge? There may seem to be different types of knowledge as they pertain to their source. For example, knowledge that is derived from reality; knowledge from fantasy; and knowledge of knowledge. The first type of knowledge is knowledge about things events, places etc., that are or we think are true. For instance, who won the world series in 1942. The second type of knowledge is knowledge about things that are not real such as knowledge about stories, plays, mythology, incorrect theories, lies, falsehoods, etc. An example would be what is Hamlet mother's name. The third type is knowledge of or about knowledge. This is the realm of epistemology. For an example of this type of knowledge requires a theory of knowledge. Many philosophical theories of knowledge do not make this distinction and normal usage of the term does not imply that such a distinction exists. However, an example might be that there are three types of knowledge, exactly what we are talking about. What is knowledge of knowledge? These are some of the questions about knowledge. The main question of this paper is: are the questions and answers about knowledge of a sort that can make epistemology into a science? I plan to argue that epistemology can indeed be a science and how this is possible.
Dated 7:43 am October 5, 1988
When we study knowledge what are we actually studying? Are we studying only human knowledge or knowledge that any being or device could have. Or are we trying to develop knowledge of everything from every perspective. Obviously, the first task is a tremendous one in itself. Knowledge throw only mans eyes. It might be better to restrict knowledge to certain humans and not others because some people have a distorted sense of reality they are crazy. But who can say what view of reality is the correct one. We might be lead to believe that the view of reality that has either or both the best explanatory or predictive ability would be the one we should follow. But this may not be the easiest or best path to follow. If we look at people as being transformations of a very limited view of the world then we could try to include every view of the world into a system of knowledge.
How much knowledge exists? Is it space dependent? That is, can a person have knowledge at one place and not at another. This may seem strange because one might think that a person could travel around the universe and everywhere in the universe know something, such as yours mothers name. But every where in the universe one can not know his mothers name because certain places in the universe are unserviceable such as inside a sun or black hole. There maybe other things that regulate knowledge that we are not aware of at this time that is space or time or even matter and energy dependent.