What and how significant is epistemology?

[sidetrack]

To me this is one of those times, where I’m not sure if philosophy “stops” and psychology begins–particulary the psychology of learning

For all cloudiness on what it is, philosophy means “love of wisdom” in spite of how it can off as a “love of words” like when ppl nitpick semantics or “love of debate” for example when methods of argument are analyzed even when a dialogue can’t be pulled off. However solely KNOWING how to do things is a BIG issue all on it’s own.

For example an amount of ppl on this forum sort of have a preconception that some ppl’s ethics and metaphysics outlook(s) are settled entirely on (what is communicated via) religion,don’t they?. An important question would be “what factors are within said religions which are used to figure out what is ‘justified true belief’ ?”,eh?.

What aesthetics is to artists,what logic^1 is to mathematicians is what I feel compelled to say what epistemology is to any instance of learning^2 whether it be about human interactions and phenomena which “outside of your element” (ex.a different culture,language or even an exercise etc) or an object like how a craft is made or why an entity is treated and perceived the way it is and even the absence of certain objects or phenomena.

This applies big time to interpersonal relationships as well:after all it’s handy to know why a person (whether your friends or family etc) come to perceive and process information and knowledge which results in them thinking and behaving the way they do not only to avoid misunderstanding and be more sympathetic,eh?.

Epistemology seems to apply to intrapersonal awareness and in information processing is an important part of the evaluation process before reaching value-judgments. Hence imo, whether your trying to rigorously work out a method to gauge physical reality like with scientific experimentation or are trying to understand human interactions, decisions and it’s hefty philosophical analogues, epistemology is vital.

Doesn’t it seem like in this era when there’s seemingly boundless amounts of information, various methods of education, different internal intellectual group cultures yet still so much space for critical misunderstanding,partiality,and overall ignorance, all the consequences which follow highlight how significant epistemology is ?.

^1 Which I personally consider one branch within epistemology

^2 A cynical part of me wants to preemptively say something that may relate to any potential rebuttals : “Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds.” - Richard Feynman

 

[lmelahn]

To me this is one of those times, where I’m not sure if philosophy “stops” and psychology begins–particulary the psychology of learning

For all cloudiness on what it is, philosophy means “love of wisdom” in spite of how it can off as a “love of words” like when ppl nitpick semantics or “love of debate” for example when methods of argument are analyzed even when a dialogue can’t be pulled off. However solely KNOWING how to do things is a BIG issue all on it’s own.

For example an amount of ppl on this forum sort of have a preconception that some ppl’s ethics and metaphysics outlook(s) are settled entirely on (what is communicated via) religion,don’t they?. An important question would be “what factors are within said religions which are used to figure out what is ‘justified true belief’ ?”,eh?.

What aesthetics is to artists,what logic^1 is to mathematicians is what I feel compelled to say what epistemology is to any instance of learning^2 whether it be about human interactions and phenomena which “outside of your element” (ex.a different culture,language or even an exercise etc) or an object like how a craft is made or why an entity is treated and perceived the way it is and even the absence of certain objects or phenomena.

This applies big time to interpersonal relationships as well:after all it’s handy to know why a person (whether your friends or family etc) come to perceive and process information and knowledge which results in them thinking and behaving the way they do not only to avoid misunderstanding and be more sympathetic,eh?.

Epistemology seems to apply to intrapersonal awareness and in information processing is an important part of the evaluation process before reaching value-judgments. Hence imo, whether your trying to rigorously work out a method to gauge physical reality like with scientific experimentation or are trying to understand human interactions, decisions and it’s hefty philosophical analogues, epistemology is vital.

Doesn’t it seem like in this era when there’s seemingly boundless amounts of information, various methods of education, different internal intellectual group cultures yet still so much space for critical misunderstanding,partiality,and overall ignorance, all the consequences which follow highlight how significant epistemology is ?.

^1 Which I personally consider one branch within epistemology

^2 A cynical part of me wants to preemptively say something that may relate to any potential rebuttals : “Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds.” - Richard Feynman

I would respectfully disagree in making logic simply a branch of epistemology.

If you think about it, epistemology answers fundamentally two questions: (1) “Is there really such as truth?” and (2) “Can we really know it?”

And then, naturally, there is a whole series of related questions: “What is the mechanism for knowing?” “What things can we know?” and so on.

Epistemology, therefore, delves into the question of the foundation and reliability of our ability to know.

Logic, on the other hand presupposes that knowledge is possible and looks into its internal coherence. It seeks to render explicit the “rules” by which our reason works. (“Reason,” here is taken in the strict sense of the word: our ability to use knowledge we already have and deduce or infer things we did not previously know.)

Logic by itself is unable to discover the foundation of truth, nor can it justify our ability to know it; only epistemology can do that.