How do We Know What We Know: Exploring Epistemology
The Limits of Human Knowledge

MINDS ON

“

I see knowledge increasing and human power increasing. I see ever-increasing possibilities before life, And I see no limits set to it at all, Existence impresses me as a perpetual dawn. Our lives, as I apprehend, are great in expectations.

~ H.G. Wells

This is an image of a person who is standing at the edge of a cliff while watching the sun set in the distance. — Are there limits to what we can know?

What Are the Limits to What We Can Know?

It is not easy to recognize our limits until we go beyond them, but is there an actual limit to what we can know? Let’s put aside questions related to technology, neurology, and time constraints - and approach this question from an epistemic framework.

Consider the following key questions:

Are there limits to how we can acquire knowledge?
Is it possible for us to see things so accurately that we know that they are indubitably true?
Are humans even capable of approaching a state close to omniscience?

In your Philosopher's Notebook, brainstorm your initial reactions to these questions.

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The Relationship Between the Corporate and Epistemic

Truth is a value-laden and contentious concept. As we have discovered in this unit, the nature of ‘truth,’ how we recognize it, whose truth we accept, and how we use it to justify our beliefs, is a complicated process.

Certainly, we all hold on to our own personal truths and beliefs - these inform our knowledge, and in turn, our worldview. Sometimes, though, we find ourselves questioning these truths. We wonder if the truths we hold are based on the beliefs of our communities. Do we believe in a truth simply because we have been told by others that it is true - rather than believing in a truth based on our own personal explorations?

Consider what we covered in the previous activity and question. What are we being exposed to as truths and to whom do those truths belong?

This is an image of a man on a tower, looking down upon a crowd. — When it comes to knowledge, what areas of life ought we take into consideration if we say that something is 'true?'

So, do we align ourselves with the corporate(definition:Of or shared by all the members of a group.), or should our truth align with the epistemic(definition:Relating to knowledge or to the degree of its validation.) communities and their networks of knowledge-based experts?

On the other hand, as we explored in our position papers in the previous activity, is the latter actually informing the former - is this more power politics to keep the masses thinking, believing, knowing, and aligning to a specific, narrow worldview?

How Can We Know Whether We Perceive the World as it Really Is?

The problem of perception remains a concern for scientists and philosophers, but also society in general. One of the central problems of epistemology is that of perception - how do we reconcile our doubts about trusting our senses with having to accept that there must be some form of reality that is not contingent on us as individuals? How skeptical should we be of our ability to believe (or not believe) our senses to give us knowledge or justified belief about the world around us?

CONSOLIDATION

“

True wisdom lies in one’s confession about the limits of one’s knowledge.

~ Socrates

Philosopher's Notebook

Are the limits of our knowledge dependent on whether, as individuals, we set or accept the limits placed upon us by an internally coherent belief system?

In your Philosopher’s Notebook, respond to this, using your personal reflections to support your reasoning.