HONS 170 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Empiricism, Scientific Revolution
Document Summary
Question #1: what is knowledge: plato: knowledge more than true belief. In meno he distinguishes knowledge from true belief . A lucky guess is not knowledge: standard answer: justified true belief. What (if anything) creates limits beyond which we cannot know : skepticism: skeptics argue that we have little (if any) true knowledge. Problem: do appearances accurately reflect reality: example of illusion. Question #3: how is knowledge acquired: two traditional theories: rationalism vs. empiricism. Rationalists such as descartes, focus on reason and innate ideas. Empiricists such as locke focus on observation and experience: in the 19th and 20th centuries, pragmatism was offered as an alternative. How our social interaction affects knowledge and justification - goldman. Aim: to eliminate false beliefs and to find secure foundations for other beliefs: descartes begins by discussing skepticism, but its not a skeptic. Beliefs based on senses: senses have deceived before, dreaming argument. Beliefs based on reason: evil genius .
