EPISTEMOLOGY
BRANCH OF PHILOSOPHY
EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTIONS
TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION
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Theories of Knowledge Acquisition
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EPISTEMOLOGISTS explore questions
such as the following:
• What is knowledge?
• How does a person acquire knowledge?
• How much can a person possibly know?
• Is an object of knowledge a by-product
of the mind?
• Does the world exist independently from
the way people see it?
Epistemology
This branch of philosophy
deals with the study of
the nature and scope of
knowledge and justified
beliefs.
Epistemology investigates the acquisition
of knowledge – encompassing the nature
and construction of concepts, logical
reasoning, and even the validity of the
perception of the senses. It deals with
the process by which people are led to
know something is true.
There are two significant domains in
epistemology: Types of knowledge acquisition
1. 2.
Empiricism
RATIONALISM EMPIRICISM
Rationalism -
views reason as the
chief source of
knowledge and the
most important
element in the
acquisition of
knowledge.
RATIO – LATIN WORD FOR
a priori REASON
A popular proponent of this
view was Rene Descartes
who was well-known for the
quote, “Cogito, ergo sum – I
think, therefore I am.” He
contented that a person was
born with innate a priori or
theoretical knowledge and
could deduce truths through
mental reasoning.
RENE DESCARTES
EMPIRICISM, on EMPIRICISM
the other hand,
asserts that all of a
person’s
knowledge comes
from his /her five Empiricism
senses.
a posteriori
EMPIRICISM
The chief proponent of this view was
John Locke who conceived the
concept of mind being a tabula rasa
(empty tablet/blank sheet) upon
which one could write and store
his/her ideas based on experiences
and learn out of those experiences.
He argued that it was only through
experience that one could derive
knowledge.
John Locke
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X N
P O
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As a matter of fact, in his Essay
Concerning Human Understanding
(1689), John Locke eliminated the
idea of having innate knowledge.
He sought to demonstrate where
knowledge came from by
contending that knowledge
sprung from ideas which came
exclusively through experience.
JOHN Locked also
provided two
forms of
experience where
a person could
acquire
knowledge: SENSATION AND REFLECTION
SENSATION ( A kind
of experience
where the human
mind grasps the
SENSATION world outside
through the five
1. senses)
Reflection
( a kind of
experience where
the human mind
goes internal,
recognizing the
ideas regarding its
own essence –
thinking, doubting,
2. Reflection and believing.
OTHER SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE AND JUSTIFICATION
SENSATION
REFLECTION
DIRECT EXPERIENCE
REASON
INDIRECT EXPERIENCE
BRANCH OF PHILOSOPHY
The End
