Epistemology and
Metaphysics
What is the
nature of knowledge? How do we know what
is true from what is false? Philosophy (derived
from the Greek – “Sophia” knowledge + “philos” loving = love of knowledge) is
the area of academic study which examines these questions. The two core areas of study in Philosophy are
Epistemology and Metaphysics.
Epistemology
How we know
what we know. It is the study of
knowledge and understanding. Epistemology
is derived from Greek: epistēmē knowledge,
from epistanai to understand, know, from epi- + histanai to
understand.
Metaphysics
The question
of existence in the non-physical realm and its nature. Metaphysics is the name Aristotle attributed to the work which came after his
examination of Physics. Metaphysics is derived
from Greek (ta) meta (ta) physika, literally,
the (works) after the physical (works).
Questions address by Metaphysics are existence and being.
I found this
great video by Wayne Miller on YouTube that describes these concepts concisely
and clearly for most people to understand.
The reason
these areas of Philosophy are so vital are that in order to establish clear
evidence of knowledge, we first need to verify the source and validity of that
knowledge.
The study of
Philosophy, Epistemology and Metaphysics in particular, is legendary for being
confusing and inconclusive.
Steven
Martin, a former Philosophy Student at California State
University at Long Beach, once observed that the result of studying Philosophy
is that, “you remember
just enough to screw you up for the rest of your life”.
All jokes
aside, questioning existence and the source of knowledge is the key to
examining knowledge.
I end with
this question:
How do you
know you exist and if so, what proof do you have?
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