The Schools of Epistemology and Metaphysics
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The Schools of Epistemology and Metaphysics
August 28, 2012
The Schools of Epistemology and Metaphysics
"Philosophy studies the fundamental nature of existence, of man, and of man's relationship to existence. … In the realm of cognition, the special sciences are the trees, but philosophy is the soil which makes the forest possible." —Ayn Rand, Philosophy, Who Needs It (p. 2) (Thomas, 2012). Just as Ayn Rand says, philosophy is the soil that makes the forest of life possible, epistemology and metaphysics are the minerals and organics that make up the soil. Epistemology is the study of knowledge, and to be more specific it is the nature and extent of human knowledge (Truncellito, 2007). Whereas metaphysics is the study of being; it asks questions like, “What is being? What makes a thing a thing? What makes our world a world of things?”(Sachs, 2005) Within epistemology and metaphysics are several different schools of thought. This paper will explain the history, development, and main contributors for each of the following areas; skepticism, rationalism, empiricism, realism, idealism, materialism, determinism, existentialism, dualism, functionalism, and structuralism. It will also provide several examples of how these schools of thought still function in modern society.
The first school of thought that will be explained is skepticism. Skepticism can trace its beginnings back to the ancient Greek philosopher, Arcesilaus, the sixth head of Plato’s academy (Thorsrud, 2004). He was the first philosopher in Plato’s Academy to be documented with turning the academy towards skepticism; this period was from 273 B.C.E to 1st century B.C.E (Thorsrud, 2004). Another form of ancient Greek skepticism is called Pyrronism, it was created by Aenesidemus, and named after the 4th- century –B.C.E. philosopher, Pyrrho (McRae, 2010). Pyrronism was most popular during the 1st-century-BCE to the 2nd or 3rd centuries C.E., with many of its concepts still in use today (Thorsrud,...
August 28, 2012
The Schools of Epistemology and Metaphysics
"Philosophy studies the fundamental nature of existence, of man, and of man's relationship to existence. … In the realm of cognition, the special sciences are the trees, but philosophy is the soil which makes the forest possible." —Ayn Rand, Philosophy, Who Needs It (p. 2) (Thomas, 2012). Just as Ayn Rand says, philosophy is the soil that makes the forest of life possible, epistemology and metaphysics are the minerals and organics that make up the soil. Epistemology is the study of knowledge, and to be more specific it is the nature and extent of human knowledge (Truncellito, 2007). Whereas metaphysics is the study of being; it asks questions like, “What is being? What makes a thing a thing? What makes our world a world of things?”(Sachs, 2005) Within epistemology and metaphysics are several different schools of thought. This paper will explain the history, development, and main contributors for each of the following areas; skepticism, rationalism, empiricism, realism, idealism, materialism, determinism, existentialism, dualism, functionalism, and structuralism. It will also provide several examples of how these schools of thought still function in modern society.
The first school of thought that will be explained is skepticism. Skepticism can trace its beginnings back to the ancient Greek philosopher, Arcesilaus, the sixth head of Plato’s academy (Thorsrud, 2004). He was the first philosopher in Plato’s Academy to be documented with turning the academy towards skepticism; this period was from 273 B.C.E to 1st century B.C.E (Thorsrud, 2004). Another form of ancient Greek skepticism is called Pyrronism, it was created by Aenesidemus, and named after the 4th- century –B.C.E. philosopher, Pyrrho (McRae, 2010). Pyrronism was most popular during the 1st-century-BCE to the 2nd or 3rd centuries C.E., with many of its concepts still in use today (Thorsrud,...