Epistemology

Epistemology

Epistemology: The study of knowledge

Or another way of saying it is "how you know what you know".

I come from a place where we can argue about anything, and often do. The arguments could get downright contentious, and so I have done my best to try to avoid them. But people really can argue about ANYTHING. Even the study of knowledge itself. If you cannot agree upon something, it is hard to get anywhere at all in an argument. The arguments can often get emotional because one's ego gets attached. That's a mistake. If one truly loves knowledge, then one does not fall in love with one's own pet theories. A theory is just a theory. Hopefully, that statement wouldn't start an argument somewhere, but where I came from, it COULD.

Even in a fight, there has to be rules. Even if the rules are the rules of the jungle. The jungle has it own rules. He who is biggest, strongest, and toughest will likely win. But, if there is to be a civilization, then the rules can be set up in advance, and everybody is expected to follow them. What happens when somebody doesn't follow the rules? That person is likely to be punished. The same can be true for epistemology. It is a rules-based system of determining what is knowledge, and what isn't. If you get into an argument, there has to be a rules-based system to determines who is right, and who is wrong.

However, if you cannot agree on the rules, then you've got a problem.

What happens when you cannot decide on issues, and not even the rules that determine who is right and who is wrong? You get anarchy. You get the law of the jungle. If you are right, and you are weak, then you might as well be wrong for all the good it will do you. Nobody has any rights in the jungle. There is no law and order in the jungle. It is a matter of who is the smartest, strongest, and maybe the meanest --- who will win any controversy.

There has to be a set of rules. There has to be laws. People have to be willing to follow these. If not, then there can be no order. Starting with this, you have to have some type of agreement on what the rules are, and the willingness to follow them.

The reason I wrote this is that this society cannot agree upon the most basic things. Like the meanings of words. The meaning of anything. Everything is in contention. If we cannot agree upon the most basic things, then how can we go forward? I used this word because it can be a start in trying to end arguments that lead nowhere because the rules cannot be agreed upon, and the very meaning of words themselves cannot be agreed upon. You can start with the theory of knowledge. How do you know what you know? If you cannot agree upon that much, then what's the point?