Philosophical Methods & Knowledge: A Comprehensive Guide
Rational Empiricist Method
Originating with Aristotle, this method posits two sources of knowledge: the senses and understanding. These lead to two levels of reality: the sensitive and the intelligible. The sensitive level consists of data from our senses, suggesting a multiple and changing reality. The intelligible level explains why things are and behave as they do. This method is termed “empirico-racional” because it begins with the physical experience of change and movement and culminates in the workings of understanding. It seeks to understand what is common, universal, and necessary in all beings.
The Empirical Method
Empiricism separates the two sources of knowledge—experience and reason—that the rational-empirical method considers intertwined. Reason is suitable for formal sciences (logic and mathematics), as their claims are truths of reason. However, these truths don’t increase knowledge in non-formal sciences. Non-formal sciences consist of statements whose truth is verifiable only through experience, thus increasing knowledge. Empiricist philosophy asserts that the origin and value of knowledge depend on sensory experience, using the inductive method in research. From this perspective, philosophy’s task is to explain all knowledge by referring to its sensory origin. Notable classical empiricists include J. Locke, G. Berkeley, and Hume.
The Rationalist Method
Born in the Modern Age, rationalism asserts reason’s primacy over experience. Reason assures true knowledge for two reasons:
- Understanding precedes feelings, which come from the external world.
- The clearest and most obvious ideas arise from reason (innate ideas), while those from the senses are confused and uncertain.
The principles of reason judge truth and falsehood, giving certainty to knowledge. Classical rationalism adopts a method combining intuition and deduction. Following this model, Descartes emphasizes “clear and distinct” ideas, exemplified by “I think, therefore I am.”
Transcendental Method
Created by Kant, this method doesn’t investigate knowledge’s origin like empiricism and rationalism, but rather its justification. To account for human rational knowledge, it addresses three questions:
- What can I know? (The question of understanding)
- What should I do? (The question of action)
- What may I hope? (The question of the future)
This method recognizes two sources of knowledge: sensibility and intellectual faculties (understanding, reason, and judgment).
Linguistic Analytical Method
This 20th-century method of “philosophy of language analysis” follows two guidelines:
- Formal analysis (semantic and logic): Considers logic as the perfect language, revealing the formal properties of language and the world.
- Analysis of language use (pragmatic and informal logic): Recognizes multiple ways of using language, termed “language games” by Wittgenstein.
Hermeneutical Method
Derived from the Greek word for “interpret” and “understand,” hermeneutics initially focused on interpreting texts. It argues that the modern scientific method, concerned with explaining causal events, is insufficient for understanding history, as meaning is not explained but understood through experience. Hermeneutic rules and norms guide this understanding.
Philosophical Knowledge
Aristotle’s distinction between theoretical and practical knowledge in Nicomachean Ethics helps differentiate various types of knowledge. Practical philosophy deals with action, guiding human action through ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of law, economics, aesthetics, and religion. Theoretical philosophy concerns knowledge of reality, encompassing metaphysics (ontology, epistemology, and theodicy), philosophical anthropology, philosophy of nature, science, technology, and language.
Why Philosophize?
Despite rapid social change and the emphasis on practical knowledge, philosophy remains crucial. Its tasks include:
- Identifying rational aims.
- Reaching for the universal.
- Providing criteria for rational criticism through reflection and argumentation within a systematic structure.
Myth and Logos
Western philosophy, born in Miletus, Greece, marked a shift from mythos to logos. Mythos refers to fantastic tales explaining the cosmos through superhuman figures. Logos, meaning “word,” became a tool for truth-seeking through public debate and reasoned argumentation.
Philosophy as Theoretical Rationality
Theoretical philosophy aims to know truth and reality rigorously. Epistemology (theory of knowledge), traditionally within metaphysics, addresses how we acquire knowledge.
Knowing Reality: Metaphysics
Metaphysics goes beyond scientific explanations. While science describes phenomena, metaphysics explores ultimate questions. For example, science maps the human genome, but metaphysics questions whether we are reducible to our genome. Metaphysics seeks fundamental principles, while ontology studies being in its universal aspect.
What is Knowledge?
Knowledge is the activity of grasping a state of affairs and sharing it with others, aiming to find and apprehend truth.
Degrees of Knowledge
- Opinion: A belief considered true but without certainty or justification.
- Belief: Conviction of truth without universal justification.
- Knowledge: Subjectively and objectively justified true belief.
The Interest of Knowledge
Kant identifies two interests driving human reason: theoretical (achieving perfect knowledge) and practical (discovering how to act and what to expect). Apel and Habermas propose three types:
- Technical: Mastering and exploring nature (empirical-analytic sciences).
- Practical: Communication and understanding between beings.
- Emancipatory: Freeing humans from domination and repression.
Possibility of Knowledge
- Dogmatism: Only truth is knowable.
- Skepticism: Reliable knowledge is impossible due to lack of justification.
- Subjectivism/Relativism: Universal truths are unattainable; truth depends on context.
- Pragmatism: Truth is what is useful.
- Perspectivism (Ortega y Gasset): Knowledge of reality is possible by combining perspectives.
Relativism/Idealism
Realism asserts that reality exists independently of the knower. Idealism emphasizes the subject’s role in knowing. Descartes’s model uses “ideas” as intermediary elements in knowing, representing mental representations of things. Kant and Hegel also adopt this model.
Phenomenology/Hermeneutics
Phenomenology aims to know things as they appear to consciousness, mediating between idealism and realism. Hermeneutics focuses on understanding human actions and history by interpreting events in their uniqueness.
Practical Philosophy
Practical philosophy guides human action through ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of economics, law, and religion. These dimensions share four elements:
- Focus on everyday activities.
- Emphasis on conditioned freedom.
- Reflection on historically changing actions.
- Normative character.
The Primacy of Practical Philosophy
Kant highlights the importance of knowing how to act and what to expect. Practical philosophy is prominent in fields like “Science, Technology, and Society,” examining the implications of scientific research for action.
Morals and Ethics
While often used synonymously, “ethics” (from Greek ethos, meaning way of life) refers to philosophical reflection on morality, while “morality” (from Latin mos, meaning custom) concerns the dimension of human life related to freedom of choice and recognizing better ways of being.
Moral, Immoral, Amoral
Moral actions align with ethical principles, while immoral actions violate them. Amoral beings lack a moral structure, the capacity to distinguish between good and bad.
Universal Values
Moral Relativism
Moral relativism asserts that moral principles are valid only within specific groups. Originating with the Sophists, it manifests in cultural relativism, contextualism, and ethnocentrism.
Skepticism
Skepticism questions the possibility of distinguishing right from wrong, good from bad.
Subjectivism
Moral subjectivism views moral judgments as subjective, lacking objective criteria for agreement.
Emotivism
Emotivism considers moral statements as expressions of emotions, neither true nor false, aiming to influence others.
Moral Wisdom
Moral wisdom involves learning to be happy by cultivating virtues like discretion, appreciating friendship and loyalty, and recognizing that happiness depends on oneself, others, and luck.
Learn to Be Just
Being just involves considering everyone’s interests, not just those of specific groups. Justice applies to all rational beings, while goodness, related to happiness, can be specific to individuals or cultures.
Subculture and Counterculture
Subcultures represent distinct groups within a larger culture, differentiated by age, socioeconomic status, etc. Countercultures rebel against the dominant culture, offering alternative lifestyles. Examples include urban tribes, criminal gangs, and alternative social groups.
Culture and Civilization
Civilization, derived from Latin terms for “citizen” and “city,” initially referred to the city itself and the progress of humankind. Today, it often represents the synthesis of general traits shared by related cultures.
Resocialization
Resocialization is the process of internalizing new cultural content, often due to radical societal changes. It involves discarding old perspectives and adopting new ones, often triggered by personal growth, social change, or cultural clashes.
Legitimization of Political Power
Is Social Life Natural?
Aristotle believed humans are social by nature, finding fulfillment in society. He categorized governments based on rulers (one, few, many) and their benefit (few, all). Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, through social contract theory, offered different perspectives on the state of nature and the need for government.
Concept of Origin and Legitimacy
Origin refers to the historical emergence of a phenomenon, while legitimacy concerns its moral and ethical justification. Legitimate political power is justified regardless of its origin.
Arguments for Legitimate Political Power
Social norms are evaluated based on legitimacy (morality/justice), validity (legal soundness), and effectiveness (social relevance).
The Concept of Individual
An individual is a complete being of a species. In recent centuries, the term has emphasized the uniqueness and inherent worth of each human, deserving respect for their rights and freedoms.
Socialization and its Forms
Socialization is the process of internalizing culture and developing identity. Primary socialization occurs within the family during childhood, introducing the individual to societal norms. Secondary socialization involves internalizing institutional worlds, contrasting with primary socialization.
Cultural Diversity
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism judges other cultures based on one’s own, leading to misunderstanding and reinforcing group cohesion.
Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism analyzes cultures from their own values, promoting tolerance. However, it can lead to racism, cultural separation, or romanticizing other cultures.
Logical Fallacies
Common fallacies include ad ignorantiam (arguing from ignorance), circular reasoning, ad hominem (attacking the person), appeals to authority, ad baculum (appeals to force), ad populum (appeals to emotion), and ex populo (appeals to popularity).
Forms of Social Organization
Societies organize in various forms: tribal, slave-based, feudal, and modern, each with distinct economic and political structures.
Types of Authority
Authority can be charismatic (based on personal qualities), traditional (based on custom), or rational-legal (based on established rules).