Epistemology and methdology: main trends and ends. (Эпистемология и Методология)

Anton Matyukhin ICEF, GROUP 3, ENGLISH GROUP 1. ESSAY IISTEMOLOGY AND METHODOLOGY MAIN TRENDS AND ENDS. Международный Институт Экономики и Финансов, 1 курс, Высшая школа экономики. 99. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Epistemology. 2. History. 3. Epistemology as a discipline 4. TWO EPISTEMOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 5. Implications. 6. Methodology. 7. Some Mental Activities Common to All Methods. 8. Observation and Experiment. 9. Analysis and Synthesis. 10. Idealisation. 11. Inference. 12. Comparison and Analogy. 13. Classification. 14. Inductive and deductive methods. 15. The Deductive-inductive Method. 16. ILOSOPHY 17. Bibliography. Epistemology.

Epistemology is one of the main branches of philosophy its subject matter concerns the nature, origin, scope, and limits of human knowledge.

The name is derived from the Greek terms episteme knowledge and logos theory, and accordingly this branch of philosophy is also referred to as the theory of knowledge. It is the branch of philosophy that investigates the basic nature of knowledge, including its sources and validation. Epistemology is concerned with the basic relationship between man s mind and reality, and with the basic operations of human reason.

It therefore sets the standards for the validation of all knowledge it is the fundamental arbiter of cognitive method. Epistemology as a term in philosophy was probably first applied, by J. F. Ferrier, to that department of thought whose subject matter is the nature and validity of knowledge Gr. epistimum, knowledge, and logos, theory, account Ger. Erkenntnistheorie. It is thus contrasted with metaphysics, which considers the nature of reality, and with psychology, which deals with the objective part of cognition, and, as Prof. James Ward said, is essentially genetic in its method.

Epistemology is concerned rather with the possibility of knowledge in the abstract. In the evolution of thought epistemological inquiry succeeded the speculations of the early thinkers, who concerned themselves primarily with attempts to explain existence. The differences of opinion, which arose on this problem naturally, led to the inquiry as to whether any universally valid statement was possible.

The Sophists and the Sceptics, Plato and Aristotle, the Stoics and the Epicureans took up the question and from the time of Locke and Kant it has been prominent in modern philosophy. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to draw a hard and fast line between epistemology and other branches of philosophy. If, for example, philosophy is divided into the theory of knowing and the theory of being, it is impossible entirely to separate the latter Ontology from the analysis of knowledge Epistemology, so close is the connection between the two. Again, the relation between logic in its widest sense and the theory of knowledge is extremely close.

Some thinkers have identified the two, while others regard Epistemology as a subdivision of logic others demarcate their relative spheres by confining logic to the science of the laws of thought, i.e to formal logic. An attempt has been made by some philosophers to substitute Gnosiology for Epistemology as a special term for that part of Epistemology which is confined to systematic analysis of the conceptions employed by ordinary and scientific thought in interpreting the world, and including an investigation of the art of knowledge, or the nature of knowledge as such. Epistemology would thus be reserved for the broad questions of the origin, nature and limits of knowledge.

The term Gnosiology has not come into general use. History. Epistemological issues have been discussed throughout the history of philosophy.

Among the ancient Greeks, questions of knowledge were raised by Plato and Aristotle, as well as by the Sophists and the Sceptics, and many of the chief issues, positions and arguments were explored at this time. In the systems of Plato and Aristotle, however, epistemological questions were largely subordinated to metaphysical ones, and epistemology did not emerge as a distinct area of inquiry. The scholastics of the late medieval period were especially concerned with two epistemological questions the relationship between reason and faith, and the nature of concepts and universals. The major positions on the latter issue realism, nominalism, and conceptualism were defined during this period.

The Reformation and the rise of modern science raised questions about cognitive methodology, and gave rise to a rebirth of sceptical doctrines, trends that culminated in the writings of Rene Descartes 1596-1650. Immanuel Kant 1724-1804, epistemological concerns were at the forefront of philosophy, as thinkers attempted to understand the implications of the new science.

They also attempted, unsuccessfully, to deal with sceptical attacks on the validity of sense perception, concepts, and induction. In the 19th and 20th centuries, epistemological issues continued to receive attention from philosophers of various schools, including Idealism, Logical Positivism, and Linguistic Analysis. A familiarity with the history of philosophy provides the best introduction to epistemology.

The following works are of special importance for epistemology Plato, Theaetetus Aristotle, Posterior Analytics Rene Descartes, Meditations John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding David Hume, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics

Epistemology as a discipline

Epistemology as a discipline. The ordinary person is likely to give up somewhere in the process of t... Philosophers are, of course, ordinary persons in all respects except p... They aim to construct theories about the world and its inhabitants tha... Yet, as they reflect upon what is presumably known, epistemologists be...

TWO EPISTEMOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

If human beings were to accept the world as being exactly as it looks,... But does seeing a straight stick out of water provide a good reason fo... There is thus a sense in which he cannot know what she knows. What he ... After all, how could one know that the stick is really straight unless... An account of the most important technical methods is usually given in...

Some Mental Activities Common to All Methods

What is common to all methods should not itself be called a method, fo... When the mental activities involved are more or less common to the met... In a wide sense these mental activities might consequently be called m... Some Mental Activities Common to All Methods. There are certain mental... A few words must be said about each of these but no significance shoul...

Observation and Experiment

Analysis and Synthesis. The discovery of any kind of order in them is only rendered possible b... The process of analysis is helped by the comparison of two or more obj... Some combinations so obtained may not correspond to anything that has ... Mere staring at facts is not yet scientific observation of them.

Comparison and Analogy

But there are degrees of similarity. Such similarity is usually called analogy. The first classifications subserved strictly practical purposes, and h... But with the growth of the scientific spirit classifications became mo... To recognise a class is to recognise the unity of essential attributes...

Inductive and deductive methods

8. Experimentally testable consequences, daring consequences that is, are... 1 When Galileo was investigating the law of the velocity of falling bo... Spencer, by comparing a number of predominantly industrial States and ... The critical approach to science and philosophy, edited by Mario Bunge...