Autor: Wilhelmsen, Frederick D.

Buch: Man's Knowledge Of Reality

Titel: Man's Knowledge Of Reality

Stichwort: Epistemologie: Verschiedene Bedeutungen

Kurzinhalt: [..] epistemology has three valid meanings: (a) the historical ... (b) the doctrinal—an investigation of the relations between the metaphysics of knowledge and truth and the psychology of knowledge ... (c) the doctrinal consideration of the distinct ...

Textausschnitt: The Meanings of the Word Epistemology

There is no distinct science of epistemology in the Thomistic sense of science.

3a “Epistemology” is a derivative from the Greek words meaning the “science of knowledge.” Presumably, a study of epistemology would be an exploration of that science. But the presumption is somewhat deceptive because there is no such thing as a single “science of knowledge.” Science, in the Thomistic sense of the term, means an understanding of things through their causes, but the causes of knowledge are many. These causes, in turn, are located within sciences distinct from any supposed “science” of epistemology. Knowledge is a way of existing: as a way of existing, knowledge is properly considered by metaphysics. Knowledge is a psychological operation: as a psychological operation, knowledge is properly investigated by the philosophy of man. But if knowledge is treated adequately by both metaphysics and psychology, what then is left of the supposed “science of epistemology”? (Fs)

Although not a science, “epistemology” has a number of valid meanings.

3b From one point of view, the above reasoning is infallible. But although infallible, it is irrelevant. Although it is certainly true that there is no distinct science known as “epistemology,” it does not thereby follow that there is no such thing as a philosophical investigation which is properly epistemological in nature. Epistemology can mean more than a nonexistent science. The term has at least five meanings, one historical and the others doctrinal. Among these five meanings, the historical and two of the doctrinal are valid; the remaining two doctrinal meanings are without any real significance. (Fs)

4a The burden of this introductory chapter is the explanation of the meanings of the term "epistemology" and the application of these meanings to the three sections making up the following study. (Fs)

Historically, epistemology has come to mean the way men answer or confront the critical problem; this confrontation involves one’s whole position on knowledge and its relation to things.

4b Historically, the term “epistemology” has come to mean the ways in which philosophers have met the so-called “critical” or “epistemological problem.” Very briefly, we can describe the critical problem as follows: How does the mind move from an understanding of itself and its own operations, to an understanding of things? How does the mind know that it really knows things, not simply its own knowing? The ways in which men meet that issue, the reasons they advance, the conclusions they draw, have been unified by the modern mind under the term “epistemology.” Whether philosophers accept the question as stated and attempt to answer it one way or another, or whether they reject the very statement of the question are considerations irrelevant to the historical meaning given epistemology. If you ask a scholar what was the epistemology of Leibniz, he will answer in terms of what Leibniz held on the relations between the mind and reality; he will not answer you in terms of what Leibniz held on free will or the laws governing the motion of bodies. If you are asked to describe your own epistemological position, you are expected to state what you believe to be the relations between man’s knowledge and reality; your answer will include—either explicitly or implicitly—a rejection or an acceptance (whole or partial) of the so-called critical problem. Thus the community of learning has come to designate as epistemology the position any given philosopher maintains on the nature of human knowledge and its relation to the real world. (Fs)

Epistemology can mean: (a) the metaphysics of knowledge and truth; (b) the psychology of human knowledge. There seems little justification for retaining the term in these senses.

4c “Epistemology” has at least four other possible meanings within the body of Thomistic philosophical doctrine: two of these meanings are invalid, two valid. (Fs)

4d “Epistemology” can refer to the simple metaphysics of knowledge and truth, and “epistemology” can refer to the psychology of knowledge. Taken in the first sense, epistemology is nothing other than the metaphysics of knowledge; it is that part of the philosophy of being which investigates the act of knowing and the conditions proper to that act in the light of its very existence. Although we are free to call this investigation “epistemology,” we are really talking about nothing other than the metaphysics of knowledge. Taken in the second sense, epistemology means the psychology of knowledge; it is that part of psychology which investigates the origin, the nature, and the processes of human intellection. Once again, although we are free to call this “epistemology,” we are really talking about psychology. These two senses of the term “epistemology” do not designate anything other than the sciences of metaphysics and psychology. (Fs)
Epistemology can mean: a study linking the psychology of knowledge with the metaphysics of knowledge and truth.

5a “Epistemology” can also mean, and principally should mean, an investigation linking the metaphysics of knowledge and truth with the psychology of knowledge; this is not a distinct science of philosophy as, for instance, ethics is a distinct science. It is, nonetheless, a distinct way of organizing the matter in question. Epistemology, in this sense, is a philosophical penetration of the nature and conditions of the act of human knowledge as such. It prescinds from whether or not that act be scientific or nonscientific, poetic or historic, practical or speculative. Epistemology, as defined, investigates what is uniquely proper to human knowledge to the degree to which that knowledge is related to the metaphysics of being and truth; since it looks to human knowledge, it belongs partially to psychology: it investigates the origin, processes, and conditions of human understanding; since it looks to human knowledge, it belongs partially to metaphysics: it investigates the act of knowledge and truth. Epistemology is neither the one science nor the other, but is both of them together. (Fs)

Epistemology can also refer to the philosophy of the unique kinds of knowledge, there areas many valid epistemologies there are valid ways of understanding.

5b “Epistemology” can also refer to a discipline—metaphysical and psychological in character—that investigates the conditions proper to the many diverse kinds of human knowledge. In this sense of the term, epistemology is not one discipline; it is many. What is proper to scientific knowledge as scientific? What is proper to historical knowledge as historical? These are epistemological questions. In this sense of the term, there are as many valid epistemologies as there are valid kinds of knowledge. This last way in which the term can be taken is dependent on, and derivative of, the previous consideration. That which is universally common to human knowledge underlies and conditions that which is proper to this or that kind of knowledge. It follows, therefore, that this final valid meaning of the term is less ultimate and less crucial than the second. An exhaustive analysis of all the possible “epistemologies” would entail a philosophical reflection on every distinct kind of knowledge exercised by man.1 (Fs)

6a In conclusion, we can sum up this introductory discussion by stating that epistemology has three valid meanings: (a) the historical—the first section of this book is given over to epistemology in this sense of the term; the first section of the book will state our position in reference to the critical problem; (b) the doctrinal—an investigation of the relations between the metaphysics of knowledge and truth and the psychology of knowledge, and this, which is the most important meaning of epistemology, is discussed in the second and largest section of this study; (c) the doctrinal consideration of the distinct kinds of human knowledge—this last is as varied as human knowledge itself, and the third section limits itself to certain kinds of human knowledge, namely, the speculative. (Fs)