accessed Friday 18 April 2003
pistemology is derived from the Greek words episteme,
which means knowledge, and logos,
which means theory. It is the branch of philosophy that addresses the philosophical
problems surrounding the theory of knowledge. It answers many questions
concerning what knowledge is, how it is obtained, and what makes it knowledge.
Many prominent philosophers with ideas on epistemology also dealt with
rhetoric. This page will attempt to link epistemology to rhetoric.
Aristotle agreed with Plato in regarding abstract knowledge as superior to any other, but disagreed with him as to the proper method of achieving it . He believed that all knowledge is gained from experience, in accordance with the rules of logic.
After many centuries of declining interest in rational and scientific knowledge, Saint Thomas Aquinas and other philosophers of the Middle Ages stressed confidence in reason and experience, combining logic with faith into a unified system of beliefs. Aquinas agreed with Aristotle in regarding experience as the starting point and logic as the method of arriving at reliable knowledge of nature, but he considered belief in scripture as the main basis of religious belief.
From the 17th to the late 19th century, the main issue in epistemology was logic versus experience in obtaining knowledge. For the rationalists, such as the French philosopher Rene Descartes, the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and the German philosopher Gottfried von Leibniz, the main source of knowledge was deductive reasoning based on self-evident ideas. For the empiricists, such as the English philosophers Francis Bacon and John Locke, the main source of knowledge was experience.
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant tried to solve an argument
between Locke and a British philosopher named David Hume; his proposed
solution combined elements of rationalism with elements of empiricism.
He agreed with rationalist belief that one can have exact and certain knowledge,
but he followed empiricist ideas in saying that such knowledge is more
informative about the structure of thought than about the world outside
of thought. During the 19th century, philosophers such as G. W. F. Hegel,
Herbert Spencer, Auguste Comte, Charles Sanders Peirce, William James,
and John Dewey continued to elaborate on the same two schools of thought.
In the 20th century, German philosopher Edmund Husserl, and Austrian philosopher
Ludwig Wittgenstein continued to argue the ideas of epistemology.
Gorgias was a Greek Sophist and rhetorician and a supporter of skepticism. Skepticism, which comes from the Greek word skeptesthai, meaning "to examine", denies the possibility of attaining knowledge of reality as it is in itself, apart from human experience. Throughout time, the word skepticism has also come to signify doubt about what is generally accepted as true. All philosophical skepticism is ultimately epistemological; it is based on views about the scope and validity of human knowledge. The Greek Sophists of the 5th century BC were for the most part skeptics. Their point of view is reflected in their maxims "Man is the measure of all things" and "Nothing is; or if anything is, it cannot be known." Thus, Gorgias declared that all statements concerning reality are false and that, even if true, their truth can never be proved.(Abelson)
The ideas of skepticism were first formulated by the Pyrrhonists, a school of Greek philosophy deriving its name from its founder, Pyrrho of Elis. They believed that "human beings can know nothing of the real nature of things, and that consequently the wise person will suspend judgment."(Abelson) Timon of Philius, Pyrrho's pupil, carried skepticism to its logical conclusion by concluding that equally good reasons can be found both for and against any philosophical idea.
The school that developed in the 3rd century BC from Plato's Academy, known as the Middle Academy, and the New Academy of Carneades supported the idea that no beliefs can be proved conclusively but that some can be shown to be more probable than others. The most important skeptics later were the Greek philosopher Aenesidemus, who classified ten arguments in support of the skeptical position, and the Greek physician Sextus Empiricus, who emphasized observation and common sense as opposed to theory.
Protagoras of Abdera, another Sophist, believed that human beings
can know only their perceptions of things, not the things themselves. Not
only was he a sophist, he was the first philosopher to call himself a Sophist
and to teach for pay, receiving large sums from his pupils. He gave instruction
in grammar, rhetoric, and the interpretation of poetry. His chief works
were Truth and On the Gods. The basis of his speculation
was the doctrine that nothing is absolutely good or bad, true or false,
and that each individual is therefore his or her own final authority; this
belief is summed up in his saying: "Man is the measure of all things."
Covino, William A. and David A. Jolliffe, eds. Rhetoric Concepts, Definitions, Boundaries. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1995.
Duckworth,George E. "Protagoras" Microsoft Encarta '95. Microsoft Corporation, 1994
Edwards, Paul, ed. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Macmillan, 1967.
Fetzer, James H. Glossary of Epistemology; Philosophy of Science. New York: Paragon House, 1993.
Stough, Charlotte L. Greek Skepticism; A Study in Epistemology. Berkely: University of California Press, 1969.
Urmson, J.O. and Ree, J. eds. The Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989.