Epistemology and Ontology: A Philosophical Analysis
Epistemology: Foundations of Knowledge
(Epistemology) Speech method: Rules for the Direction of the Mind
1. Rule of Evidence
To accept as true only that which is so clear and distinct that it cannot be doubted. Avoid hasty judgments and accept only what is undeniably true.
2. Rule of Analysis (Resolution)
Divide complex problems into their simplest components to better understand and solve them. This process moves from the unknown to the known, from complex ideas to simple principles.
3. Rule of Synthesis
Reorganize thoughts, starting with the simplest and easiest to understand, and then reconstruct them to form a comprehensive understanding. This process orders the search for truth.
4. Rule of Enumeration
Continuously review all steps taken in the investigation to ensure they are completely justified.
Universal doubt rests on four reasons, certain things that seem true could be doubted (a provisional step to find an undoubtable truth). A radical critique of all knowledge, no reliable knowledge.
1. The Senses
The senses are sometimes misleading. We do not have a criterion to know when the senses deceive us and when they inform us of reality. It is improbable that they always deceive us, but we cannot trust something that has deceived us once. It is prudent to doubt what we perceive through the senses.
2. Existence of an External World
Our ideas about the external world may not be caused by an independent existence. What we perceive when we are awake may be a dream. There is no criterion to distinguish between being awake and dreaming. Therefore, the existence of an external world is doubtful, as it may be a product of our dreams.
3. Mathematical Truths
Errors in reasoning and mathematics are independent of the senses. Even if we are dreaming, 2 + 2 should equal 4, but we can still make mistakes. (Malignant genius)
Undeniable truth: Cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am). The act of doubting implies the existence of a thinking being.
Types of Ideas
1. Adventitious
Ideas that seem to come from our external experience. Due to methodical doubt, the external world is problematic and has not yet been recovered.
2. Fictitious
Ideas that we construct by combining other ideas (e.g., centaur, chimera).
3. Innate
Ideas that do not seem to come from the exterior or depend on us. They impose themselves on us, and we cannot control them. They are found within us as a fruit of the nature of understanding (e.g., infinity, existence, identity).
Features: Justifies the existence of a thinking self, different from the body. The senses are excluded. This becomes a model principle: everything that is evident, clear, and distinct will be accepted as true.
Ethics: A Rationalist Approach
Rationalist ethics uses reason to discover the good. Human reason can discover it (Cogito ergo sum). The first reason applies to metaphysics, then physics (cosmology), then other sciences, then mechanics, medicine, and finally ethics. The major goal is the knowledge of the world and science. Ethics leads to the control of passions through reason. A provisional morality starts from zero, discovering things over time. Since human life is limited, one cannot achieve complete knowledge of the good. This leads to provisional rules of morality.
Rules of Conduct
- Accept the customs and norms of the place where one lives (conformist).
- Try to change oneself before trying to change what affects one.
- Once a decision is made, act accordingly without doubts.
- Devote one’s life to study.
Ontology: The Nature of Being
Ontology: Reconciles the opposition of permanence and change with relativism and optimism. Defines the cosmos as an entity consisting of a visible world (sensible realities accessed through the eyes, mutable and copies of other realities) and an intellectual world (ideas and realities, immutable and models of the visible world). The Demiurge orders the cosmos.
Hierarchy of Ideas
Beauty/Good, Justice, Order, Mathematical ideas, and subordinate ideas.
Theory of Knowledge
Explained through the myth of the cave, which shows how to reach the realities through contemplation of ideas. Prisoners = humans, cave = visible world, shadows = sensible things, way out = knowledge process, freed prisoner = philosopher, objects outside = ideas, outside world = intelligible world, Sun = Good. Plato proposes reminiscence: “knowing is remembering” as our soul has signs of ideas. This involves epistemological optimism and innatism. Plato also speaks of levels of knowledge: opinion (doxa) and true knowledge (episteme). Opinion includes images and beliefs, while true knowledge includes mathematics (discursive reason) and ideas (intuitive reason).
Theory of Anthropology
Explained through the myth of the winged chariot. It is a dualistic theory of body and soul. The soul is compared to a winged chariot where the charioteer is the rational part, the white horse is the irascible part, and the black horse is the concupiscible part. If the charioteer controls the two horses, the soul will ascend to the world of ideas. Otherwise, it will fall to the world of things.
Theory of Ethics
Plato sees the soul as having three parts: rational (thinking), irascible (strength), and concupiscible (instincts). The virtues are wisdom, strength, and temperance. These three virtues create justice in balance. This theory proposes the idea of an ideal state where there is justice and happiness. The rulers should be philosophers (rational), the military should protect (strength), and the workers should be artisans (temperance). Education should be for all, but each class has a specific role.