METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING

Part 1
Lesson 5:
Knowledge and
Truth
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✖ People are already relying on knowledge for their

survival.
✖ Without knowledge on how to create a fire, how to
cook one’s food, how to build a shelter, how to
build dams to control flooding, how to create laws
to preserve order in society and yes even how to
think properly, we would still be in a prehistoric
cave.
✖Knowledge literally enabled mankind to survive and
reach the present level of our civilization.
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What is
Epistemology?
✖ “Epistemology is a science devoted to the discovery of
the proper method of acquiring and validating
knowledge” (Rand 1990)
The purpose of epistemology therefore is t w o - fold:
1. To show how we can acquire knowledge.
2. To give us a method of demonstrating whether the
knowledge we acquired is really knowledge (i.e.,
true).
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The Nature of
Knowledge
Knowledge is the clear awareness and understanding of
something.
* it is provided by facts
* It is based on reality
* It is observable and evident on the real world
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HOW Do WE Acquire
1. Knowl
We can acquire edge? using our senses (Empiricism)
knowledge

Empiricists:
1. John Locke
2. George Berkley
3. David Hume
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HOW Do WE Acquire
2. We can acquireKnowl edge?
knowledge by thinking with the use of our minds
(what philosophers call the rational faculty) (Rationalism); knowledge
comes from intellectual reasoning.
Rationalists: Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
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PROCESS OF Acquiring
1. Reality Knowledge
To know is to know something. This “something” is what
philosophers call reality, existence, being.
Existence is everything there is (another name for it is the
Universe). It includes everything we perceive (animals, plants,
huma n beings, inanimate objects) and everything inside our
heads (e.g., our thoughts and emotions) which represents our
inner world.
Existence is really all there is to know. If nothing exists
knowledge is impossible.
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Process Of Acquiring
2. PerceptionKnowledge
Our first and only contact with reality is through our
senses.
Knowledge begins with perceptual
knowledge.
3. Concept
“an abstract or generic idea generalized from
particular instances” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)”
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PROCESS OF Acquiring
Knowledge
4 . Proposition
Statements about the world or reality are called propositions
Propositions may or may not carry the truth.
F a c t s - propositions or statements observed to be real and
truthful
Claim-proposition that requires further examination; can
be contested
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PROCESS OF Acquiring
5. ArgumentKnowledge
series of statements that provide reasons to convince the
reader/ listener that a claim/ opinion is truthful. Group of
statements that serve to support a conclusion.
“There is no hope in the Philippine government”
(opinion)
“There is no h o p e in the Philippine government because
many officials are corrupt, and Filipino voters continue to elect
them.” (argument)
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DOMAINS OF
TRUTH
Objective domain: related to scientific
truths; pertains to the natural world that
maintains a relative independence from the
perspective and attitude of human beings
that perceived them.
EG: TYPHOON SEASON, WATER’S
BOILING POINT (100 DEGREES CELSIUS)
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DOMAINS OF
TRUTH
Social Domain: Truth is related to a general
agreement or consensus on what is right as opposed
to what is wrong. Based on norms (standard of
acceptable behavior in society)
EG: maintaining silence inside the chapel;
cheering loudly in a basketball game; being silent in
the library
Remember!!! Consensus has certain limitations. It is
helpful but not always reliable
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DOMAINS OF
TRUTH
Personal Domain: Truth is related to
“SINCERITY”; consistent to inner thoughts
and intentions
needs to establish “trust”
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Truth and
Justi
ficati
o n
✖TRUTH (according to Richard Rorty)-
has passed the “procedures of
justification”
✖JUSTIFICATION is the process of proving
the truth or validity of a statement. This
process is made up of ways of critically
testing a claim against certain criteria.
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Each domain of truth has a corresponding justification or

has a different criteria for truth:
SCIENTIFIC/ OBJECTIVE DOMAIN- are tested
Truths empirical evidence
against
SOCIAL DOMAIN- Truths tested against their
are
acceptability to a particular group in a particular time in
history
PERSONAL DOMAIN- Truths tested against the
are
consistency and authenticity of the person who claims it
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To which domain of truth does each

of the following statements
1. fall?and in health, “till death do us
“In sickness
part.”- Personal Domain
2. Reptiles are cold-blooded. Scientific Domain
3. “Don’t talk when your mouth is full!”- Social Domain
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How do we Know if Something is 8

1.
True?
A belief is true if it can be justified or proven through the
use of one’s senses.
2. A belief or statement is true if it based on facts
Getting
is a consensus or having people agree on a
3. common belief
requires to prove an action
4. Subject
Truth to test to determine the truth
5.
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TRUTH VS.
OPINION
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✖Truth is knowledge validated

based on the facts of reality.
facts of reality are independent of your
thoughts, feelings or preferences
For example the statement “Jose Rizal
died
in 1896” is true.
There are many sources that can validate
the truth of that statement if one cared to
look.
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✖When one say that “Jose Rizal is the

greatest m a n w h o ever lived” you are
stating your preference and not facts.
This is an opinion.
That statement represents not facts but an
interpretation of facts which may reveal
biases.
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✖OPINION- A statement of judgment of a

person about something in the world.
Opinions are bases for making arguments
and convincing people that a certain claim
is a fact.
Example: Case of Extra Judicial killings, war
on drugs, Issue on defending West Philippine
Sea from China, Government response on
COVID 19
OPINIONS are statement of judgment
that are in need of further justification.
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✖CONCLUSION- Judgment based on

certain facts; could still be contested or
questioned.
✖BELIEFS- Statements that express
convictions that are not easily and clearly
explained by facts.
✖EXPLANATIONS- statements that
assume the claim to be true and provide
reasons why statement is true.
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✖An opinion has the following characteristics:

1. Cannot be confirmed
2. Open to interpretation
3. B ased on emotions
4. nherently biased
I

✖While truth is:

5. Can be confirmed with other sources
6. Independent of one’s interpretation, preferences
and biases
3. Based on the facts of reality
 SYNTHESI
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S
Nature of Epistemology and
Knowledge

Acquire and Validate

Knowledge

Distinguish Truth from Opinion

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