...Epistemology Schools Paper Arika Boyd PHL/215 Dixie Hoyt 09/15/09 Epistemology or theory of knowledge is a branch of philosophy related to the scope and nature of knowledge. The subject focuses on examining the nature of knowledge, and how it relates to beliefs, justification, and truth. Epistemology contract with the means of production of knowledge, as well as skepticism about different knowledge claims. The question is what does people Know? The core of this questions and area of study is Skepticism, in which there have been many approaches involved in trying to disprove a particular form of this school. This paper will discuss the Epistemology school of Skepticism, the contributors whom created the school; the evolution of how the school grew out of it’s the original field of Epistemology, and a few examples of real-life applications pertaining to the school. Epistemology arisen either in defense of or in opposition to certain forms of skepticism. Skepticism is an attitude of doubt and uncertainty as expressed in everyday language and an identifiable school of thought in history ideas. It’s most general sense refers to doubt, disbelief, uncertainty, suspension of judgment, and rejection of knowledge. It is the doctrine that true knowledge in a particular area is uncertain and argues that beliefs in something does not justify that an assertion of knowledge on the particular subject. It also is characterized by its opposition to dogmatism in which...
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...Page 1 of 3 Student Number: 4392-524-3 Date: 04/04/2013 PYC4808 - Assignment 1 Unique Assignment Number: 199603 Table of Contents: Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..Pg. 1 Definition and example of epistemology…………………………………………….………………………....Pg. 2 Definition and example of theory……………………………………………………………………………………Pg. 2 Definition and example of a model…………………………………………………………………………………Pg. 2 Definition and example of a technique………………………………………………………………….……….Pg. 2 Reference list………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Pg. 3 Page 2 of 3 Definition Epistemology Epistemology is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, its pre-suppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity. Epistemology investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge. Epistemology is one of the key defining characteristics of what it means to be human…to become conscious of your ways of knowing, and reinforce your confidence in that knowledge. Theory Theory is a set of statements, or principles devised to explain a group of facts / phenomena especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena. Example Truth itself – How can we know that something is true? Classical Conditioning Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development Model A model is usually a system for representing scientific knowledge concerning psychological aspects. A theory may...
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...Hi Michele, Thank you for submitting the report on Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Aesthetics, Political, and Social Philosophy. I can see you have a personal philosophy expressing good ideas on the six fields of philosophy. When I reviewed the Unit 2 IP submission, I noted there was information that directly matched the content in several websites, word for word. (Identified on the Turnitin Report) at 17%. This is an instructional note Michele to let you know the issues with paraphrasing or using complete sentences without directly quoting and citing. When you paraphrase or borrow direct sentences, the information is written without your voice, words, phrases, or ideas. When paraphrasing a sentence citation and quotes are required. It is generally accepted that using three or more of the author’s original words is a direct lift and requires quotation marks or indentation. Changing one or a few words in a paragraph does not constitute paraphrasing the material. It is necessary to quote phrases or words identical to the authors, or it will change its meaning. However, direct quotes, not proper names or titles, should be limited. At least 85% of your paper should be in your own words, (not copied) and include a citation. When copying or borrowing other people's work, it is difficult to gauge your understanding of the material, because writing information verbatim does not show me that you read the material, thought about, perhaps analyzed it, broke...
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...Akarsh Trivedi Term paper Plato’s theory of forms, also knows as his theory of ideas, states that there is another world that exists. This world is separate from the world that we live in. Plato calls this world the eternal world. The theory that he proposes is that objects in the physical world merely resemble perfect forms in the ideal world, and that there perfect forms can be the object of true knowledge. Through out his work Plato makes the distinction between objects that are real and concepts that exist in our minds. To better understand this we have to look at the characteristics that Plato bases knowledge on. Throughout this his works, Plato was always concerned with one thing, which was epistemology. Epistemology deals with the possibilities and limits of human knowledge. It tries to answer such questions as: is the world as people perceive it the basic reality, or do people perceive only appearances that conceal basic reality? Knowledge may be regarded as having two parts. There is, first of all, what one perceives using the five senses. Next there is the way these perceptions are organized by the mind to form ideas or concepts. The problem is that epistemology is based on how philosophers have understood the relationship of the mind to the rest of reality. Through the Theory of Forms, Plato links mind and reality. For the average person, common sense says that there is a real world of perceivable objects. These objects can be analyzed and understood. Philosophers...
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...introduce a well-known paper in my research area, named The Balanced Scorecard-Measures That Drive Performance, then the underlying assumptions and paradigm of this research will be discussed and identified. After that, some criticize will be raised from the view of other paradigms, the difference of underlying assumptions will be explained in the end. Paper of Balanced Scorecard In 1992, Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton published the paper named The Balanced Scorecard - Measures That Drive Performance, this paper is based on a year-long research project with 12 companies at the leading edge of performance measurement. It changed the traditional performance measurement (which only concerns the financial performance of the company) by introducing four aspects of performance : financial perspective; customer perspective; internal process perspective and learning and innovation perspective. The paper argues that managers could have a better understanding and control of their companies by answering the basic questions related to these perspectives. For example: How do customers see us(customer perspective); What must we excel at(internal perspective); Can we continue to improve and create value(innoviation and learning perspective); How do we look to shareholders(financial perspective). The paper also demonstrated some examples of how to build the balanced scorecard for the company and developed the performance measurement system from balanced scorecard. This paper could be considered...
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...In his 1989 article Mouck cites Morgan (1988) who observed that: “The idea that accountants represent reality ‘as is ‘ through the means of numbers that are objective and value free, has clouded the much more important insight that accountants are always engaged in interpreting a complex reality, partially, and in a way that is heavily weighted in favor of what the accountant is able to measure and chooses to measure…” (p. 480). Required: Discuss the extent to which the “scientific” world-view of mainstream accounting researchers, is grounded on a belief that “reality” exists independently of thee human subject and the possible implications this has for accounting theory development. Introduction Accounting is a subject that is guided with principles and regulations. Thus, it is often regarded as a rigid, rigorous, and highly analytical discipline with very precise interpretations. However, this is far from the truth. For instance, two organizations that are otherwise homogeneous can apply different valuation methods giving entirely distinct but equally correct answers. One may argue that a choice between accounting schemes is merely an “accounting construct” the sorts of “games” accountants play that are exclusively of relevance to them but have no pertinent in the “real world.” Once again this is entirely false. For example, valuation of inventory using either LIFO (Last-in-last-out) or FIFO (First-in-first-out) has an impact on income tax, especially in the US...
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...Richard Rorty The nature of knowledge has been of great concern to many prominent thinkers and philosophers who may represent different historical periods or schools of thought. Many of them examine the ways in which people can determine whether a certain premise is valid or not. This paper is aimed at discussing Richard Rorty’s approach to the interpretation of such a concept as truth. One should keep in mind that Rorty is a representative of pragmatism; according to this theory, truth can be described as a “changing, subjective, and relative” phenomenon (414). In particular, it is necessary to evaluate his claim that “we commend a statement as true when it passes the tests that our community uses to distinguish what is true from what is false” (416). In other words, this argument implies that a person can accept anything as truth, provided that it is compatible with the standards of validity that are adopted by a group. Overall, this argument should not be overlooked because it highlights the unreliability of human knowledge; nevertheless, its relativism can be used to justify absurd or even atrocious ideas that can eventually prove to be disastrous. These are the main issues that should be discussed more closely. Overall, Richard Rorty believes that individuals accept something as truth if it passes the “procedures of justification” established in a certain community (416). In this context, the term justification procedures can be described as the tools or tests which...
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...Harmless Arbitrariness de Leon, Ramon Luis W. 11043644 Abstract In this paper, I address the issue of whether or not we are prudentially rational in accepting a belief on the basis of arbitrary reasons. This issue is derived from Peter Klein's discussion of possible objections against a view which he advocates called Infinitism. More specifically, this issue is located within the scope of matters concerning Infinitism's Principle of Avoiding Arbitrariness (PAA). Klein briefly acknowledges a possible objection from a line of reasoning by Steven Luper-Foy, who argues that we can be rational in accepting a belief on the basis of arbitrary foundations because these arbitrary foundations serve as the means to attain what Luper-Foy thinks is the goal of cognitive beings: a complete and accurate picture of the world. Klein identifies Luper-Foy's line of reasoning as going against his views. In defending PAA, Klein argues that it is not prudentially rational to accept a belief on the basis of arbitrary reasons since whether or not one accepts on the basis of arbitrary reasons, the likelihood of attaining the complete and accurate picture of the world is the same. I believe that Klein's defense against Luper-Foy's line of reasoning leaves much to be desired. I claim that when positive belief management principles as advocated by Luper-Foy are taken into consideration, the likelihood of attaining the epistemic goal is increased, and thus makes it more likely for an...
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...CBE—Life Sciences Education Vol. 10, 368–378, Winter 2011 Article The C.R.E.A.T.E. Approach to Primary Literature Shifts Undergraduates’ Self-Assessed Ability to Read and Analyze Journal Articles, Attitudes about Science, and Epistemological Beliefs Sally G. Hoskins,* David Lopatto,† and Leslie M. Stevens‡ *Department of Biology and The Graduate Center, City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031; † Department of Psychology, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112; ‡ Section of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 Submitted March 18, 2011; Revised June 9, 2011; Accepted July 5, 2011 Monitoring Editor: Diane K. O’Dowd The C.R.E.A.T.E. (Consider, Read, Elucidate hypotheses, Analyze and interpret data, Think of the next Experiment) method uses intensive analysis of primary literature in the undergraduate classroom to demystify and humanize science. We have reported previously that the method improves students’ critical thinking and content integration abilities, while at the same time enhancing their self-reported understanding of “who does science, and why.” We report here the results of an assessment that addressed C.R.E.A.T.E. students’ attitudes about the nature of science, beliefs about learning, and confidence in their ability to read, analyze, and explain research articles. Using a Likert-style survey administered pre- and postcourse, we found significant changes in students’ confidence...
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...Individual Project 1 Kevin Hensley AIU Online PHIL201 July 25, 2013 Earl Barnett Individual Project 1 Over the years, I have asked myself many questions about life, its meaning and where I will or want to go in life. Many I have answered, and many which I have no answers to just more questions. In this paper I will try to express the times I have asked questions and come to what I feel are reasonable answers. Metaphysics When I was young, my Grandfather died quite unexpectedly. The night after the funeral I was lying in bed with my back facing the door to my room. I heard my Grandfather’s voice calling my name. When I rolled over, he was standing there in my room. He said, “Kevie, you be good and take care of your mother.” And then he was gone. After many more experiences of this kind, I have come to the conclusion a person’s soul does go on after death. How this is possible, however, I have not yet come to a reasonable conclusion other than our bodies are merely a vessel we use for time. Epistemology My daughter once asked me, “Dad, how do you know so much?” This question, for some reason, made me stop and think for a moment. How did I know or have the knowledge of the things I spoke of or acted upon? The conclusion I came to was I had the knowledge through several ways. Some knowledge was gained by life experience, while another bit of knowledge was gained by a teaching of some sort. My Grandfather teaching me about engines and how to work on them is an example. Ethics Over...
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...Abstract People wonder how they, and others, know what they know. There is a skepticism about accepting that there are inherent pieces of knowledge that people simply possess, that there is no such thing as true knowledge because it is so personal, that there is no way to prove what is truly right or wrong. This paper considers the views of Chuang Tzu and Roderick Chisholm, how their ideas should be researched further in order for leaders to address sharing knowledge with their followers. Scholars, researchers, mangers, and leaders can benefit in many ways by further researching the philosophies and how these ideas apply to one’s attempts to share knowledge. Philosophers and Epistemological Skepticism All arguments about knowledge involve skepticism in its genuine form, a doubt or disbelief. This suspicion is present in many workplaces as decisions made by leaders often result in having followers who do not understand how the choices have been made and how they will benefit employees. By exploring the philosophies on epistemological skepticism, perhaps leaders can appreciate the foundation of uncertainty and better address concerns moving forward. Chuang Tzu Chuang Tzu was one of the earliest skeptics. He suggests that our knowledge is nothing more than that, our knowledge, and the judgments we make have no real basis in reality (Cooper, 1999). After all, who can define what is real when it all boils down to our personal judgments? The following...
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...Immanuel Kant remains one of the most influential modern philosophers in the realm of western philosophy. As a philosopher, Kant’s teachings stretched into the fields of, yet not inclusive to, ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. However, it was Kant’s view of ethics that perhaps was paramount; it is as well important to delve further and pinpoint reason and good will as the source of morality in his ethical teachings. It is utterly inconceivable to simplify Kant’s works and theologies into less than 2,000 words; however, I will try. Kant’s philosophical teachings branched into many different disciplines – challenging common notions and making significant impacts as he taught them. However, it is his ethical theory that has been the most...
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...Willie Franklin Intro to Philosophy Professor David Scott 5/13/13 Critical Analysis Paper: Plato Vs. Descartes Plato lived in a time of decline of the Greek aristocracy. He was discouraged by both the "mob" (majority rule) and the "elite" (group of nobles) in his country (Johansen 22). He felt that majority rule was irrational and volatile because the average person lacked knowledge and self-restraint, making decisions from emotional responses based on desire and sentiment (Johansen 25). When is comes to metaphysics, Plato’s Theory of the Forms is by far the nucleus of it. For Plato, Forms are timeless essence or entities that rule the well being of a person. Also according to Plato, Forms are transcendental because they depend on the declaration that there is a plane of being outside of our ordinary existence (Tovar 10). Plato divided metaphysics into four levels of reality and four epistemological ways of apprehending the Forms. The four levels of reality are images, sensible objects, lower forms, and higher forms (Tovar 22). The four epistemological ways of apprehending are imagination, perception, reasoning and understanding. When is comes to his epistemology, he tied his dualistic notion of being and becoming. Being is said to be unchangeable and becoming is the way the world appears. Plato though that whatever is relative and always shifting could not be true. So basically Plato is saying the becoming is something that is not real. When it comes to truth...
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...related to daily life in Arkansas. However different the scope of questions we began to ask ourselves are from the questions early philosophers asked, we share in learning from and building on the methods and teachings of men before us. Some of the earliest philosophers, such as Plato incorporated similar questions about reality and truth as the pre-Socratics collective, however, based their inquiries within the natural world and used reason as the methodological vehicle. Because this type of thinking was contextualized outside of supernatural forces and myth and magic, the pre-Socratics collective are often times considered the first scientists of Western culture who laid the earliest foundations shaping the study of metaphysics and epistemology (Chaffee 230). This way of thinking sought to answer similar questions as those based in religion and myth, but sought answers through observations and analytical reasoning within the natural world. Generally, this way of thinking embodied the nature and scope of knowledge, theories of knowledge, and the extent to which knowledge about any subject and physical entity can be known. The pre-Socratic collective formed a bridge between a cultural consciousness based in beliefs of gods and goddesses and mythical spirits to a...
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...Putting the idea of innatism into question, John Locke (1632 – 1704) is a philosopher and a scientist, contributed much to the realms of philosophy, law and politics. He strongly believed in the innate goodness of humans and the right to freedom and property of the people. In this paper we will be looking at both Empiricism and Innate ideas and whether Locke’s ‘children and idiots’ argument against innate ideas is sound. Locke believes that people are born with blank slates, and that knowledge is acquired throughout one’s life through experiences and sensations. In the 18th century, Locke came up with the term empiricism. Empiricism is the view that most knowledge is derived from experience. Which means both senses and inner thought....
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