Author: Boethius
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Epistemology – Part 3: Rationalism and Empiricism
In Part 1 we learned that epistemology is the study of knowledge, and that since the time of Plato and Aristotle, JTB (justified true belief) has been the standard definition of knowledge. In Part 2 we learned that both logic and epistemology rely heavily on the distinction between true and false. And within epistemology, there…
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Epistemology – Part 2: Truth
As I stated earlier in Part 1, epistemology is the study of knowledge, or how we know what we know. Since the time of Plato and Aristotle, JTB (justified true belief) has been the standard understanding of knowledge. And even though JTB is not a sufficient condition for knowledge, JTB is a necessary condition for…
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Epistemology – Part 1: Knowledge
Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that deals with what we can know and the nature of our knowledge. The Greek term episteme means “knowledge.” Therefore, epistemology is the study of knowledge, or how we know what we know. Since the time of Plato and Aristotle, JTB (justified true belief) has been the standard understanding…
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Jesus the Christ
“Pilate wrote a notice and had it placed on the cross: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS Lots of the Judeans read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was close to the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek” (John 19:19-20 The New Testament for Everyone). For over…
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Constitution Day
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. (Preamble to the…
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Thinking Logically
A Deductive Argument is an argument where (if valid) the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises; it moves from general to particular. Premises are the claims, principles, reasons, or alleged facts cited in support of the conclusion. A Deductive Argument is sound when it is valid and all its premises are true. Deductive reasoning, when…
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Logic and Logos
Logic is a way to think so we can come to correct conclusions by understanding implications and the mistakes people often make in thinking. Logic is also the study of the methods and principles used to distinguish good (correct) from bad (incorrect) reasoning. For example, there are three principles of logic. (A is A) (A…
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Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics
In his book Beauty: A Very Short Introduction, Roger Scruton notes at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the philosophy of art became aware of itself and named itself ‘aesthetics’ after the Greek term aisthesis for sensation. This was in keeping with a much older view that beauty is the object of a sensory delight…